Symbolic
In the symbolic condition children were introduced to two troll dolls -- a large troll (Big Terry) and an identical small troll (Little Terry). They were then shown a large room (Big Terry's Room) and a scale model of the room (Little Terry's Room). Each child was given four trials. On the first, the child watched as the experimenter hid the big troll doll in the room. They were told that the smaller troll would be hidden "in the same place" in the model. The child was then asked to retrieve the small doll from the model. If needed, the child was reminded that the doll was in the same place. On the second trial, the small troll doll was hidden in the model and the child was asked to find the larger doll hidden in the same place in the room. The same procedures were repeated in Trials 3 and 4. In order to find the troll doll, the child had to understand the features of the model and the relationship between the model and the room.