Cognitive style differences in children's spatial perspective taking

Examined spatial perspective taking in a total of 80 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-yr-old reflective and impulsive children (as indentified by scores on the Matching Familiar Figures Test) using a modification of Piaget's 3 mountain task. Results indicate that reflectives made more mature errors at 6 yrs of age and were more accurate in predicting another's perspective at 8 yrs of age, but they did not differ from impulsives in performance at 4 or 10 yrs of age. Results suggest that the development and expression of children's cognitive structures, at least in the spatial realm, is mediated by cognitive style factors. (5 ref)