Children's Acquisition of a Route via Different Media

Abstract

Route learning by kindergarten and grade 2 children was assessed via a slide presentation, videotape, or walking the route with a guide. The children viewed the route only once, and were then asked to retrace it in the same medium from start to finish or in the reverse. They were shown a panoramic view at seven choice points along the route, and when retracing were asked to point to the correct path at these locations. Older children were less likely to err than younger children, reversing the route was more difficult than repeating it in the forward direction. There was very little difference in overall performance in slide and videotape media, but significantly fewer errors occurred while walking, especially when children were asked to indicate their way back to the start. Methodologically, these findings suggest caution should be exercised in generalizing from studies of children's spatial performance using bounded planar materials. Theoretically, these findings support accounts of route learning that ascribe a fundamental role to self-produced exploration and its concurrent spatio-temporal feedback (e.g., Gibson, 1966,1979).