年幼儿童的尺寸匹配误差现象

Young Children's Scale Error

近十年来,尺寸匹配误差作为年幼儿童生活中的一种常见的尺寸误用现象逐渐受到了一些研究者的关注。现有研究主要集中在尺寸匹配误差的特点、出现频率和产生原因等方面。抑制控制的失败、神经通路的协调失败、"计划-控制"模型和"感觉-行动"模型、功能性推理偏好以及身体意识发展的不成熟等观点能够对某些类型的尺寸匹配误差现象做出解释。未来的研究应从进一步深入探讨尺寸匹配误差与假装的区别、完善研究方法以及跨文化研究的开展几方面进行。

a scale error is a phenomenon that young children dramatically fail when they attempt to use objects in a way that is impossible due to the object in question being either significantly too large or too small for the child to use. The first research dealing with the scale error was published in Science in 2004. Over the past 10 years, the number of foreign studies on the scale error has grown rapidly. There remains, however, a decided lack of Chinese domestic research published on the subject. This paper is intended as a survey study of the available foreign literature on the topic of the scale error so that it may be used as a reference point and foundation for domestic research. An extensive review and analysis of foreign-sourced academic literature since 2004 served as the primary methodology in conducting this study. The majority of the available published research on the scale error focuses on the definition, types, characteristics, influence factors, and causes of the scale error as well as the difference between the scale error and pretending. Although some researchers say that it is easy to distinguish the scale error from pretending, this is still relatively a one-sided view. Moreover, there is still disagreement in many aspects among different researchers. At present, there is some variance in theories regarding the driving factors behind the scale error. Deloache et al. （2004a, 2004b） believed that failure of inhibitory control and the dual process theories of visual processing can help us understand the mechanism of the scale error. Glover et al.（2004b）established the Planning-Control model and the perception- action model to interpret scale error. Casler et al.（2011）noted that children＇s scale error appeared to be elicited by purpose, rather than by size; Deloache et al. （2013）and Brownell et al. （2007） pointed out that the immature body self-awareness was one factor underlying the scale errors. The current list of studies collected data mostly by the observation method. These methods become a big bottleneck of the research in the scale error. We expect that in future research, more effective means will be found to distinguish the scale error from pretending. Studies about influencing factors of scale error will be conducted in full-scale, and research methods will be diversified and integrated. The objects and contents of study will be extended to include different cultural backgrounds. This paper is the first detailed analysis and summarization of foreign research on the scale error in nearly a decade and includes feasible suggestions for future research in the area.