Children and adults normally interpret the spatial expressions in front of
and behind in a nondeictic way when fronted objects are used. Two
experiments involving a treasure hunt game investigated subjects' (6 to 10 years and
adults) awareness of an alternative, deictic interpretation. Although older subjects
will change from a nondeictic to a deictic response under certain conditions, most
subjects do not appear to be aware of the deictic interpretation. It is argued that
these spatial expressions do not normally present a problem of ambiguity to most subjects.
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