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LE CARACTÈRE TOPOLOGIQUE DES PREMIÈRES REPRÈSENTATIONS SPATIALES DE l'ENFANT
Author(s) -
Pinard Adrien,
Laurendeau Monique
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
international journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1464-066X
pISSN - 0020-7594
DOI - 10.1080/00207596608247158
Subject(s) - psychology , topology (electrical circuits) , simple (philosophy) , curvilinear coordinates , euclidean geometry , pure mathematics , cognitive psychology , mathematics , epistemology , geometry , combinatorics , philosophy
The topological nature of the child's early spatial representations. Piaget's hypotheses revisited . — Three experiments bearing on Piaget's hypotheses on the topological nature of the child's early concepts of space are reported. The results of the first experiment, replicating Piaget's stereognostic technique on a larger scale, were shown to confirm the earliness of topological discriminations, but it was found also that some simple Euclidian discriminations (curvilinear vs rectilinear, indented vs non‐indented forms) were not more difficult. The second experiment has shown that the child relied rather on topological than on simple Euclidian attributes when both types of attributes were presented in a conflictual situation; otherwise, the simple Euclidian discriminations were easier. In a third experiment, using a drawing technique along with visual exploration, topological discriminations proved easier than Euclidian discriminations in one instance only (open‐closed vs curvilinear‐rectilinear forms). It is suggested in conclusion that the child's early discriminations are not based on topology as such, but on certain geometrical properties which are fundamental to topology itself.