A developmental investigation of the effect of sensory modality on form recognition in children

Presented a randomized sequence of 20 different 3-dimensional forms to 144 kindergartners, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. Ss could see or feel the forms or do both while trying to visually locate a matching cutout on a form board containing 58 cutouts of varying size, shape, and orientation. The quality of visual and bimodal performance was equivalent for Ss, with haptic performance poorer than both visual and bimodal performance. Kindergartners showed poorer overall performance than 2nd or 3rd graders. "Results point to the need for using Ss younger than 5 yr. to demonstrate active developmental changes in integrative capacity."