Children's spatial knowledge of their neighborhood environment

• Published in: Journal of applied developmental psychology 1987, Vol.8 (1), p.1-15
• Main Authors: Herman, James F., Heins, Julia A., Cohen, Deborah S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0193-3973; 1873-7900
• DOI: 10.1016/0193-3973(87)90017-7

Six-, eight-, and ten-year-olds' spatial knowledge of their neighborhood was examined. Children initially made bearing and distance estimates from their homes to three distant landmarks in the neighborhood area. They were then asked how far their parents permitted them to travel in the neighborhood with freinds and by themselves and how far they actually traveled. Finally, children described how they found their way from one neighborhood location to another. There were three major findings. First, children at all age levels knew the general direction to distant landmarks, suggesting that children as young as 6-years-old can infer spatial relations in large, familiar environment. Second, activity range increased over age, with boys ranging further than girls. Third, although children took advantage of a wide variety of cues to find their way in their neighborhood, clear developmental patterns of cue utilization and ldway-findingrd strategies were not evident.