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Dual Representation and the Linking of Concrete and Symbolic Representations
Author(s) -
Uttal David H.,
O’Doherty Katherine,
Newland Rebecca,
Hand Linda Liu,
DeLoache Judy
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
child development perspectives
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1750-8606
pISSN - 1750-8592
DOI - 10.1111/j.1750-8606.2009.00097.x
Subject(s) - representation (politics) , perspective (graphical) , object (grammar) , dual (grammatical number) , focus (optics) , dual representation , mental representation , psychology , cognition , cognitive psychology , cognitive science , the symbolic , computer science , artificial intelligence , linguistics , psychoanalysis , philosophy , physics , optics , neuroscience , politics , political science , law
— As the articles in this special issue suggest, linking concrete and abstract representations remains a fundamentally important challenge of cognition development and education research. This issue is considered from the perspective of the dual‐representation hypothesis—all symbols are simultaneously objects in their own right and representations of something else—which can shed light on the challenges of linking concrete and symbolic representations. Manipulations that lead children to focus on the object properties may actually make it harder for them to focus on what the symbols represent. Conversely, decreasing children’s attention to the object’s properties can make it easier for them to establish a link between concrete and symbolic. The educational implications of the dual‐representation hypothesis are considered.