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Use of geometry for spatial reorientation in children applies only to symmetric spaces
Author(s) -
Lew Adina R.,
Gibbons Bryony,
Murphy Caroline,
Gavin Bremner J.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
developmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.801
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1467-7687
pISSN - 1363-755X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00904.x
Subject(s) - quadrilateral , isosceles triangle , geometry , argument (complex analysis) , terrain , series (stratigraphy) , basis (linear algebra) , psychology , mathematics , geology , geography , engineering , cartography , paleontology , structural engineering , biochemistry , chemistry , finite element method
Proponents of the geometric module hypothesis argue that following disorientation, many species reorient by use of macro‐environment geometry. It is suggested that attention to the surface layout geometry of natural terrain features may have been selected for over evolutionary time due to the enduring and unambiguous location information it provides. Paradoxically, however, tests of the hypothesis have been exclusively conducted in symmetric (hence ‘unnatural’ and geometrically ambiguous) environments. The present series of studies examines reorientation by 18‐month–3‐year‐old children in a rectangular versus irregular quadrilateral enclosure (Study 1), a rectangular versus irregular quadrilateral array (Study 2) and an isosceles versus irregular triangular array (Study 3). Children were successful in symmetric but not asymmetric environments, casting doubt on the functional argument for an empirical basis of the geometric module hypothesis.