Abstract
This study tested four and five-year-olds for their ability to use differences in the spacing among features when asked to pairing faces. The task was presented as a drag and drop features game which provided double reinforcement to children.
Cognitive variables were taken in consideration during the test's elaboration and spatial selective attention was measured with a neuropsychological test from the NEPSY. Because stimuli were either modified on the mouth or on the eyes according to the three levels of difficulty, the measure of perspective's variables on children's performances was possible.
A lot of children were excluded from the final sample because their performances were influenced by cognitive variables. Other children performed above chance level but were poorer than the adults. They showed the same pattern of performances for the three levels of difficulty than adults for modifications on the mouth but not on the eyes. Those results showed the necessity to take cognitive variables into consideration when interpreting young children performances. They brought us to the conclusion that both qualitative and quantitative changes are responsible for the gap between children and adults in configural processing skills.
