Understanding Symbols

room that was in my laboratory. The real space contained basic furniture such as a couch and table. The miniature version was as similar as possible to its larger counterpart: the furniture was the same shape and material and was arranged in the same position. For the study, a child watched as we hid a miniature toy - a plastic dog we called Little Snoopy in the model. We then encouraged the child to find 'Big Snoopy', a large version of the toy 'hiding in the same place in his big room.' B The three-year-olds were very successful. After they observed the small toy being placed behind the miniature couch, they ran into the room and found the large toy behind the real couch. But the two-and-a-half-year-olds failed abysmally. They cheerfully ran into the room to retrieve the large toy, but most had no idea where to look, even though they remembered where the tiny toy was hidden in the miniature room and could readily find it there.