Cognitive development of duration and distance in moving stimuli.

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Why is it difficult for children to compare lengths of duration or distance for two moving objects? Findings of our studies for these three years show the following. 1. For preschoolers and lower graders in elementary schools, it was not easy to recognize correctly "the same" or "different" of the temporal starting points or the temporal stopping points, when the spatial points were "different". Most of them could not learn to operate the knowledge "duration = temporal stopping point - temporal starting point" (Knowledge alpha) to solve these kinds of problems. In the distance, the results were almost the same. 2. For most of higher graders in elementary schools, the largest problem was that they could not be aware of using the knowledge, though they could learn to use it. It seemed that the knowledge "duration distance/speed" (Knowledge beta ) was more easily activated than Knowledge alpha. In the distance the results were nearly the same. 3. There were few junior high school students who can use the adequate knowledge (Knowledge alpha or Knowledge beta) according to the types of tasks. Most of them seemed to be more likely to use an incomplete version of Knowledge beta, that is "duration = distance" than Knowledge alpha. 4. Most of undergraduates were more likely to use Knowledge alpha than Knowledge beta. Only 20% of them could properly use the two kinds of knowledge according to the type of tasks. These findings suggest that recognitions of duration and distance develop gradually through childhood and there may be a drastic change from the early teen to the end of teen.