| Popis: |
While there is ample evidence that spatial language supports children’s spatial cognition, spatial language is diverse. Spatial language can co-occur with non-spatial language and can be categorized as intrinsic language or extrinsic language. Intrinsic language references the properties of an object, such as its shape or color, while extrinsic language references the relations among objects. Here we explore how children’s spatial and non-spatial intrinsic language related to their memory for a spatial array. Fifty-three five to eight-year-olds (Mage = 7.36 years, SD = 1.08) narrated their behavior as they assembled an array of 14 wooden pieces that varied in shape and color. We calculated children’s references to the shapes of the pieces, a spatial object property, and the colors of the pieces, a non-spatial object property. Children then completed two memory tasks, a spatial memory task in which they reconstructed the array from memory and an object memory task in which they identified the individual pieces that had been present within the array. Children’s production of shape words predicted better spatial memory but worse object memory. Children’s production of color words predicted better object memory but did not predict spatial memory. Thus, spatial intrinsic language may support spatial memory but be detrimental to object memory. In contrast, non-spatial intrinsic language may support object memory but be less beneficial for spatial memory, suggesting that the match between language type and cognitive task is crucial. |
