To Cue or Not to Cue: Beacons and Landmarks in Object-displacement Tasks

Two experiments examined the role of various cues on children’s performance in a well-known object-displacement task. In this task, children observed a toy rolling down a ramp whose trajectory was occluded by an opaque screen with doors. A barrier was placed along the ramp, behind one of the doors, to stop the toy. The top portion of the barrier was visible above the screen. To search successfully, children had to retrieve the hidden toy by opening the correct door. Previous work had found that the barrier was an ineffective cue among children less than three years of age. According to a landmark-based account, this was because the barrier was only an indirect cue to object location. If a cue directly marked the location, then it would be more likely attended and utilized. This model underscores the spatial relation between cue and the target. Other cue properties are important in so far that they modify this spatial relation. In Experiment 1, a cue’s distance from the target object was manipulated (i.e., short vs. long), but the location marked by the cue was kept constant (i.e., correct door was directly below). The search performances of 24- and 30-month old children were compared under no cue, short-cue/short-door, and long-cue/long-door conditions. Both age groups performed equally well under both cued conditions. In Experiment 2, a cue’s movement (i.e., coincident with the car vs. not coincident with the car) down the ramp was manipulated. The performance of 24- and 30-month old children were compared under attached-direct cue and unattached-direct cue conditions. Both age groups performed well under both conditions. Collectively, the results provide support for the landmark-based account. The spatial relation between cue and target underlies toddlers’ search. Properties of the cue matter to the extent that they impact how well the cue marks its target.Ph