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Using Representations: Comprehension and Production of Actions with Imagined Objects
Author(s) -
O'Reilly Anne Watson
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1995.tb00918.x
Subject(s) - comprehension , psychology , the imaginary , object (grammar) , cognitive psychology , context (archaeology) , mental representation , representation (politics) , developmental psychology , action (physics) , concept learning , task (project management) , communication , cognition , linguistics , artificial intelligence , psychoanalysis , computer science , paleontology , philosophy , physics , management , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , politics , political science , law , economics , biology
Previous research suggests that young children have difficulty producing actions with imagined objects (pantomimes): They frequently substitute a body part to represent the object involved in the action. This response has also been observed in neurologically impaired adults. Study 1 examined the comprehension and production of pantomimes in 3‐ and 5‐year‐old children and normal adults to explore further this aspect of representational ability. Results indicate that young children not only have difficulty producing imaginary object representations in contrast to normal adults, they also have difficulty comprehending imaginary object representations and are better at comprehending pantomimes with a body part representation. The results from the pantomime comprehension task were replicated in Study 2 with 3‐ and 4‐year‐olds. These findings are discussed in the context of the development of representational ability as children demonstrate increasing independence from concrete environmental support in their knowledge about actions.