Can three-year old children take spatial perspectives?: An approach with the 'Face Rotation Task'

Abstract

Spatial perspective taking ability of two-year-six-month to four-year-five-month old children was investigated, using a newly devised task named the 'Face Rotation Task.' In the task one of the two eyes in the face stimulus, which had been rotated 90, 180, or 270 degrees from the upright position, was highlighted and a buzzer sound was simultaneously presented. The subjects were asked to memorize the combination of the highlighted eye and the sound. When the face stimulus was set back to the normal upright position, the buzzer sound was presented and the subjects were asked to look or point at the position of the expected highlighting eye. Children over 3.5 years performed significantly better than chance expectation. The mental strategy employed by the children was also investigated using a modified Face Rotation Task. The result indicated that the mental strategy was perspective taking. The implications of these results were discussed in terms of the appropriate meaning of perspective taking ability.