1. Children's understanding that ambiguous figures have multiple interpretations.
- Author
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Beck, SarahR., Robinson, AlexandraN., Ahmed, Shabnam, and Abid, Ruhksana
- Subjects
- *
COMPREHENSION in children , *CHILD psychology , *AMBIGUITY , *UNCERTAINTY , *THEORY of knowledge , *PHILOSOPHY of mind , *COMMUNICATION , *PSYCHOLOGY - Abstract
In three experiments we compared 5- and 6-year-old children's understanding of multiple interpretations arising from an ambiguous figure (e.g., the duck/rabbit) and other ambiguous partial input. Children found it equally easy to switch between alternative interpretations of ambiguous figures and partial views (Experiment 1, N = 19) and more difficult to accept two characters' conflicting interpretations of ambiguous figures, than partial views (Experiment 2, N = 29). Children found it more difficult to accept explicitly that one stimulus could simultaneously give rise to two interpretations, than to switch between them (Experiment 3, N = 40). Children's handling of multiple interpretations was not primarily affected by the type of input, but results suggest that there are two distinct stages in children's handling of multiple interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2011
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