Dwell times showcase how goal structure informs preschoolers’ analysis of unfolding motion patterns

Using Hard et al.'s (2011) dwell-time paradigm, 85 preschoolers (aged 2.5-4.5; 43 female; primarily from white families) advanced at their own pace through one of three slideshows. All slideshows depicted an actor reaching toward, grasping, and retrieving a ball. However, motion patterns differed for one slideshow (straight-reach) relative to the other two (arcing-reaches), and one of the arcing-reach slideshows depicted a violation of typical...