Related article: looked in the small tent. Believing the miniature to actually be the
original tent after shrinking, they successfully retrieved the hidden
toy. Unlike in our scale model experiment, they had no dual
representation to master: the small tent was the same as the large
tent, and thus the toy was where it should be, according to the
toddlers' view of the world.
Understanding the role of dual representation in how young children
use symbols has important practical applications. One has to do with
the practice of using dolls to interview young children in cases of
suspected sexual abuse. The victims of abuse are often very young
children, who are quite difficult to interview. Consequently, many
professionals--including police officers, social workers and mental
health professionals--employ anatomically detailed dolls, assuming
that a young child will have an easier time describing what happened
using a doll. Notice that this assumption entails the further
assumption that a young child will be able to think of this object as
both a doll and a representation of himself or herself.
These assumptions have been called into question by Maggie Bruck of
Johns Hopkins University, Stephen J. Ceci of Cornell University, Peter
A. Ornstein of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and
their many colleagues. In several independent studies, these
investigators have asked preschool children to report what they
remember about a checkup with their pediatrician, which either had or
had not included a genital check. Anatomically detailed dolls were
sometimes used to question the children, sometimes not. In general,
the children's reports were more accurate when they were questioned
without a doll, and they were more likely to falsely report genital
touching when a doll was used.
Based on my research documenting young children's difficulty
interpreting symbolic objects, I suspected that very young children
might not be able to relate their own body to a doll. In a series of
studies in my lab using an extremely simple mapping task, Catherine
Smith placed a sticker somewhere on a child--on a shoulder or foot,
for example--and asked the child to place a smaller version of the
sticker in the same place on a doll. Children between three and
three-and-a-half usually placed the sticker correctly, but children
younger than three were correct less than half the time. The fact that
these very young children cannot relate their own body to the doll's
in this extremely simple situation with no memory demands and no
emotional involvement supports the general case against the use of
anatomically detailed dolls in forensic situations with young
children. (Because of many demonstrations akin to this one, the use of
dolls with children younger than five Buy Analgin is viewed less favorably than in
the past and has been outlawed in at least one state.)
Educational Ramifications
The concept of dual representation has implications for educational
practices as well. Teachers in preschool and elementary school
classrooms around the world use "manipulatives"--blocks, rods and
other objects designed to represent numerical quantity. The idea is
that these concrete objects help children appreciate abstract
mathematical principles. But if children do not understand the
relation between the objects and what they represent, the use of
manipulatives could be counterproductive. And some research does
suggest that children often have problems understanding and using
manipulatives.
Meredith Amaya of Northwestern University, Uttal and I are now testing
the effect of experience with symbolic objects on young children's
learning about letters and numbers. Using blocks designed to help
teach math to young children, we taught six- and seven-year-olds to do
subtraction problems that require borrowing (a form of problem that
often gives young Analgin Tablets children difficulty). We taught a comparison group
to do the same but using pencil and paper. Both groups learned to
solve the problems equally well--but the group using the blocks took
three times as long to do so. A girl who used the blocks offered us
some advice after the study: "Have you ever thought of teaching kids
to do these with paper and pencil? It's a lot easier."
Dual representation also comes into play in many books for young
children. A very popular style of book contains a variety of