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Parental Guidance in Preschoolers' Understanding of Spatial‐Graphic Representations
Author(s) -
Szechter Lisa E.,
Liben Lynn S.
Publication year - 2004
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.1467-8624.2004.00711.x
Subject(s) - psychology , comprehension , spatial ability , developmental psychology , observational study , cognitive psychology , spatial intelligence , cognition , linguistics , medicine , pathology , neuroscience , philosophy
This research was designed to observe whether parents guide their children's understanding of spatial‐graphic representations and, if so, to describe the quality of the strategies they use. Parents read a picture book to their preschoolers (3 or 5 years, N =31) and children completed spatial‐graphic comprehension tasks. Observational data revealed a range of creative behaviors used to address the book's spatial‐graphic challenges. The incidence and quality of parental spatial‐graphic behaviors were significantly related to 5‐year‐old children's performance on spatial‐graphic measures. These findings, as well as the paucity of parent attention to aesthetics or graphic production techniques, are discussed in relation to representational development and educational practice.