Map reading is unique to humans but is present in people of diverse cultures, at ages as young as 4 years old. Here, we explore the nature and sources of this ability and ask both what geometric information young children use in maps and what nonsymbolic systems are associated with their map-reading performance. Four-year-old children were given two tests of map-based navigation (placing an object within a small three-dimensional [3D] surface layout at a position indicated on a two-dimensional [2D] map), one focused on distance relations and the other on angle relations. Children also were given two nonsymbolic tasks, testing their use of geometry for navigation (a reorientation task) and for visual form analysis (a deviant-detection task). Although children successfully performed both map tasks, their performance on the two map tasks was uncorrelated, providing evidence for distinct abilities to represent distance and angle on 2D maps of 3D surface layouts. In contrast, performance on each map task was associated with performance on one of the two nonsymbolic tasks: Map-based navigation by distance correlated with sensitivity to the shape of the environment in the reorientation task, whereas map-based navigation by angle correlated with sensitivity to the shapes of 2D forms and patterns in the deviant-detection task. These findings suggest links between one uniquely human, emerging symbolic ability, geometric map use, and two core systems of geometry.

中文翻译：

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核心知识与符号的出现：以地图为例

地图阅读是人类独有的，但存在于不同文化的人群中，年龄低至 4 岁。在这里，我们探索这种能力的性质和来源，并询问幼儿在地图中使用哪些几何信息以及哪些非符号系统与他们的地图阅读能力相关。对四岁儿童进行了两次基于地图的导航测试（将对象放置在二维 [2D] 地图上指示的位置的小型 3D [3D] 表面布局中），其中一项侧重于距离关系另一个是角度关系。孩子们还被分配了两项非符号任务，测试他们使用几何进行导航（重新定位任务）和视觉形式分析（异常检测任务）。尽管孩子们成功地完成了两项地图任务，他们在两个地图任务上的表现是不相关的，这为在 3D 表面布局的 2D 地图上表示距离和角度的不同能力提供了证据。相比之下，每个地图任务的性能与两个非符号任务之一的性能相关：基于距离的地图导航与重定向任务中对环境形状的敏感性相关，而基于角度的地图导航与敏感性相关到异常检测任务中的 2D 形式和图案的形状。这些发现表明，一种独特的人类、新兴的象征能力、几何地图的使用和两个核心几何系统之间存在联系。每个地图任务的性能与两个非符号任务之一的性能相关：基于距离的地图导航与重定向任务中对环境形状的敏感性相关，而基于角度的地图导航与对形状的敏感性相关异常检测任务中的 2D 形式和模式。这些发现表明，一种独特的人类、新兴的象征能力、几何地图的使用和两个核心几何系统之间存在联系。每个地图任务的性能与两个非符号任务之一的性能相关：基于距离的地图导航与重定向任务中对环境形状的敏感性相关，而基于角度的地图导航与对形状的敏感性相关异常检测任务中的 2D 形式和模式。这些发现表明，一种独特的人类、新兴的象征能力、几何地图的使用和两个核心几何系统之间存在联系。