Kids use Senses one at a Time

Ivanhoe Newswire
Friday, May 2, 2008; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- When it comes to using the senses to complete tasks or solve problems, children under the age of eight are limited to a one-at-a-time approach.

In two separate studies, European researchers ran kids through tests involving two senses at a time to see if they could integrate the two, similar to the way adults do. The children generally used one or the other to get the job done, but not both.

In the first study, the tests involved simple tasks using vision and touch, such as determining which of two blocks was taller, or which of two bars was oriented more counterclockwise.

The second study gauged the ability of children to use their senses of vision and motion to return an object to its original place. The inability of young children to use both senses at once could explain why kids get lost so easily, report the authors.

Both sets of researchers believe young kids might be using their senses one at a time because theyre still in the process of rapid growth. Kids have to stay calibrated while they are growing all the time ... their eyes get farther apart and their limbs longer, study author Dr. David Burr, from the department of psychology at the the Universit Degli Studi di Firenze, was quoted as saying. They may use one sense to calibrate the other.

Marko Nardini, of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck College, University of London, agrees. It could be adaptive for humans not to integrate sensory information while they are still developing, Nardini said. But there might also be constraints on what children can do. Its possible that brain development needs to take place to make integration possible.

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SOURCE: Cell Press, published online May 1, 2008