Psychology, Department of
Date of this Version
September 2003
Abstract
The dynamic field theory predicts that biases toward remembered locations depend on the separation between targets, and the spatial precision of interactions in working memory that become enhanced over development. This was tested by varying the separation between A and B locations in a sandbox. Children searched for an object 6 times at an A location, followed by 3 trials at a B location. Two- and 4-year-olds’, but not 6-year-olds’, responses were biased toward A when A and B were 9-in. and 6-in. apart. When A and B were separated by 2 in., however, 4- and 6-year-olds’ responses were biased toward A. Thus, the separation at which responses were biased toward A decreased across age groups, supporting the predictions of the theory.
Comments
Published in Child Development, September/October 2003, Volume 74, Number 5, Pages 1393–1417. Copyright © 2003 by the Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. Published by Blackwell Publishing, Inc. Used by permission.
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