Do Young Children Reverse Ambiguous Figures?

Abstract

Most adult observers tend not to reverse ambiguous figures if they are not informed about the ambiguity of the figure. The question was asked whether very young children who have rarely, if ever, seen any kinds of ambiguous figures will reverse if uninformed, and also how they will behave if they are informed. It was found that 3 and 4 year olds never reverse when presented with two different kinds of ambiguous figures when uninformed, and only some do even when informed; further, those that do reverse do so only once or twice over a 60 s inspection period. These results are interpreted as further confirmation of an earlier finding with adults—that reversal is not simply a matter of prolonged inspection of an ambiguous figure leading automatically to neural satiation. Instead, cognitive factors such as utilization of memory and intention are implicated.