ArticlePsychological research2021
Children struggle beyond preschool-age in a continuous version of the ambiguous figures task.
Article in Psychological research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Children require more evidence to revise beliefs under gradual perceptual change.Psychological research · 2026Article
- Cognitive Control Skills Are Related to Ambiguity Awareness in French-Learning 5-to-6-Year-Olds: Implications for Reading Development.Cognitive science · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
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Abstract
Children until the age of five are only able to reverse an ambiguous figure when they are informed about the second interpretation. In two experiments, we examined whether children's difficulties would extend to a continuous version of the ambiguous figures task. Children (Experiment 1: 66 3- to 5-year olds; Experiment 2: 54 4- to 9-year olds) and adult controls saw line drawings of animals gradually morph-through well-known ambiguous figures-into other animals. Results show a relatively late developing ability to recognize the target animal, with difficulties extending beyond preschool-age. This delay can neither be explained with improvements in theory of mind, inhibitory control, nor individual differences in eye movements. Even the best achieving children only started to approach adult level performance at the age of 9, suggesting a fundamentally different processing style in children and adults.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.