Abstract

Young children increasingly interact with technological devices, either as a form of entertainment or for educational purposes. This research sought to investigate the early symbolic understanding of an interactive, three-dimensional digital image presented on a tablet. Two studies were designed in which the children had to use the image as a source of information to solve a search task. The first study investigated the performance of children aged 30 and 36 months. We found that the children symbolically understood the image at 36 months, but not at 30. The second study investigated the impact of manipulation and instruction on the performance of 36-month-old children. The results showed that the manipulation of the image negatively impacted the understanding of it as a symbol, regardless of the instruction received. The results are interpreted in terms of the impact of manipulation, instruction and the three-dimensionality of the object on understanding it as a symbol. Possible implications in education are also discussed.