Mention of landmarks and actions in spatial descriptions: A developmental study

We still know very little about how children acquire and communicate a complex spatial representation. This study analyzes spatial descriptions of virtual routes by eight- and ten-year-old children and young adults. Drawing on the work by Denis and his various colleagues on the features of spatial descriptions, we looked at the verbal production of landmarks, actions, and their links. The results show that the number of landmarks or actions mentioned on their own decreases with age, while the number of landmarks linked with an action and spatial information increases between the ages of eight and ten, showing the acquisition of some route knowledge. Although scarcer, the number of landmarks linked with both action and spatial information also increases from the age of eight to adulthood. The study also shows that the method for analyzing adults’ spatial description proposed and developed by Denis and colleagues can also be applied to children’s verbal descriptions, revealing that the structure of spatial discourse gradually becomes more efficient for navigation.