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Hiding in blind and sighted children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Ann E. Bigelow
Ann E. Bigelow*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, St. Francis Xavier University
*
Address correspondence to: Dr. Ann Bigelow, Department of Psychology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G ICO, Canada.
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Abstract

Children with varying visual abilities (totally blind, visually impaired, normally sighted) participated in a longitudinal study of the development of the ability to infer what is seen by another. The children were asked to hide themselves, a toy, and specific parts of their bodies from a sighted observer. After each hiding the observer asked, “Can I see you?” to determine whether the children associated self-exposure with what was hidden. The totally blind children were not as successful at hiding as the other children. The totally blind children associated hiding with being in contact with an obstacle but did not necessarily understand that the covering obstacle had to completely block the observer's view of what was hidden or that covering was not necessary if other obstacles already blocked the observer's view. The totally blind children and one visually impaired child associated self-exposure with exposure of the mouth, whereas the other children who associated self-exposure with a particular body part associated self-exposure with exposure of their eyes. Results suggest that lack of direct visual experience impedes blind children's understanding of what constitutes a barrier to vision, which affects their ability to infer what others see. Implications of the findings for understanding the development of the self in blind children are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , July 1991 , pp. 301 - 310
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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