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Choosing and using tools

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Date Issued:
2008
Summary:
Two and 3 year-old children's understanding of tool affordances was investigated by measuring their tool choice decisions and tool use behaviors. Children attempted six toy retrieval tasks of three different levels of structural complexity. Children were assigned to one of four conditions in which exposure to task materials varied according to the way in which the information was presented: no experience / no observation, experience only, observation only, and experience and observation. Three year- olds consistently made more correct choices and used more working tools successfully than 2-year-olds. Tool choice was affected primarily by task difficulty and age. Tool use was influenced by task difficulty, order of task difficulty, age, and condition. The observation condition was most beneficial to children, while experience was least helpful, particularly for tasks at the hard level of difficulty.
Title: Choosing and using tools: type of prior experience and task difficulty influence preschoolers' choices and actions.
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Name(s): Gardiner, Amy K.
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Department of Psychology
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Issued: 2008
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form: electronic
Extent: vi, 47 p. : ill.
Language(s): English
Summary: Two and 3 year-old children's understanding of tool affordances was investigated by measuring their tool choice decisions and tool use behaviors. Children attempted six toy retrieval tasks of three different levels of structural complexity. Children were assigned to one of four conditions in which exposure to task materials varied according to the way in which the information was presented: no experience / no observation, experience only, observation only, and experience and observation. Three year- olds consistently made more correct choices and used more working tools successfully than 2-year-olds. Tool choice was affected primarily by task difficulty and age. Tool use was influenced by task difficulty, order of task difficulty, age, and condition. The observation condition was most beneficial to children, while experience was least helpful, particularly for tasks at the hard level of difficulty.
Identifier: 316506622 (oclc), 165940 (digitool), FADT165940 (IID), fau:2822 (fedora)
Note(s): by Amy K. Gardiner.
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008.
Includes bibliography.
Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2008. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subject(s): Learning, Psychology of
Developmental psychology
Educational tests and measurements
Constructivism (Education)
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/165940
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU