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Are all distances created equal? Insights from developmental psychology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2020

Bronwyn O'Brien ,
Joshua L. Rutt  and
Cristina M. Atance Open the ORCID record for Cristina M. Atance [Opens in a new window]
Bronwyn O'Brien
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaK1N 6N5. bobri082@uottawa.ca jrutt@uottawa.ca atance@uottawa.ca http://www.socialsciences.uottawa.ca/ccll/eng/
Joshua L. Rutt
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaK1N 6N5. bobri082@uottawa.ca jrutt@uottawa.ca atance@uottawa.ca http://www.socialsciences.uottawa.ca/ccll/eng/
Cristina M. Atance
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaK1N 6N5. bobri082@uottawa.ca jrutt@uottawa.ca atance@uottawa.ca http://www.socialsciences.uottawa.ca/ccll/eng/
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Abstract

Gilead et al.'s theory presupposes that traversing temporal, spatial, social, and hypothetical distances are largely interchangeable acts of mental travel that co-occur in human ontogeny. Yet, this claim is at odds with recent developmental data suggesting that children's reasoning is differentially affected by the dimension which they must traverse, and that different representational abilities underlie travel across different dimensions.

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Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 43 , 2020 , e140
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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