TABLE 5.

Coded examples of children justifications for each convention.

Justification type Age		Whole/Cross- section Criteria 1. Middle section 2. Internal view	Realistic/ Schematic Criteria 1. Same shape view 2. Stylized	Whole/close Up Criteria 1. Close-up, 2. Bigger-partial	Side view/top view Criteria 1. Orientation 2. Shape	Before/After Criteria 1. After time, 2. State change
Examples of Appropriate justification	5 y	“you can see it’s -pointing- cut in half and then again” “here-pointing- It’s broken in half and now here it’s broken in half too.”	“here -pointing- there it is the same shape and there it is the same shape”	“there -pointing- you can see the flower up close and the shoe up close”	“there -pointing- you can see the top of the hat and there the top of the egg” “you see the top of the dish and then -pointing- you see the top of it, the kiwi”	“we take a banana and then we peel it, we turn it around” “the orange you see it peeled and then here -pointing- it’s peeled too”
	6 y	“because the egg is cut in half, so I cut it in half”	“because it’s the same image but in black and white”	“because there -pointing- we see it normally and there we see it more closely”	“because the egg is seen from above and the kiwi is seen from above”	“because the orange is peeled and so the banana is peeled” “before there was something around- pointing- and now it’s gone and so the egg was cut, so there’s something (less)”
	8 y	“the hat is cut in half and the flower too”	“because the hat is drawn and here-pointing- too”	“we see the banana up close and the orange too” “we see the kiwi up close and the flower up close”	“we see the kiwi from above, like the egg from above”	“we take off the headband from the hat and here-pointing- we take off the orange peel.”
	10 y	“the cup is cut in half” “the banana is cut there-pointing-, the orange is cut there” “because the dish is cut in half and now -pointing- it’s the same”	“the shoe is drawn there-pointing- so the egg is drawn there”	“there -pointing- it is zoomed in.” “there -pointing- it’s zoomed in and there too”	“you can see the orange from above”	“because there-pointing- we remove the laces and there we remove the petals” “It’s peeled”
Examples of Partially Appropriate justification One criteria, incomplete justification	5 y	“you can see half the egg and half the orange”	“here-pointing- the food, the orange, it is white and there the food, the banana, it is white”	“this egg it had become bigger”	“because there -pointing- we see what’s at the top and there we see what’s at the top”	“there-pointing- it’s cut and then there-pointing- it’s cut”
	6 y	“because we can see inside and there-pointing- too” “you can see half of it and then again” “it’s because there’s something in it, I think. because the kiwi is cut”	Criteria “the kiwi with colors and there is no color” “because there’s something in the bowl and there’s something to hold the egg.”	“because there-pointing- we see correctly and there-pointing- we see bigger ones”	“the orange-pointing- it is open and the egg too”	“because the skin is torn off” “because now- pointing- it’s straight and now you can see it from above”
	8 y	“there’s -pointing - half the cup and there’s half the bottle too” “you can see half the orange and half the banana” “the bowl is cut and the kiwi is cut” “the dish is only half full and the kiwi is cut”	“There’s - pointing- a drawing.” “it’s a drawing”	“because it’s closer” “we see that part of the cup is bigger and there - pointing- we see only part of the banana but bigger”	“because it is seen from top” “here we see the banana lying down and there we see it in height and there -pointing- we see the flower lying down and there in height”	“the banana skin is cut and the kiwi is cut”
	10 y	“the banana is cut there; the orange is cut there too” “you can see the inside and there too”	“Here it is in black and white and here too it is in black and white”	“the banana you see in full screen and then the orange too”	“we see her a little high up and then again I think”	“fully open”
Examples of Inappropriate justification Irrelevant or general (global) criteria	5 y	“Here’s -pointing- a shoe and here’s a hat.” “you can see that there is still the skin and here -pointing- there is still the shell” “This is the kiwi and a half and this is the avocado and a half”	“we see the side, the side, and here - pointing- the side, the side and the side” “Now it’s not broken and here - pointing- now it’s not broken.” “we see that the kiwi is ready, we haven’t peeled its skin and here there are no petals that are removed”	“there -pointing- you see a round and unpeeled rose and there you see a round and unpeeled egg and the shell remains” “there - pointing- we see it in its entirety and there too”	“when there is wind the petals are removed and the stuff from the flowers is put on the ground” “there’s a kiwi and there’s also food” “this -pointing- is big and here this is big” “now it’s the same, you see the whole cup and then you see the whole cup3” “because there- pointing- we see the side of the banana and there we see the side of the object”	“here -pointing- the whole shoe and here -pointing- this is the half picture”
	6 y	“because now you see a cup on the side” “because there it is whole and there we see it whole too”	“there, -pointing- we see correctly and there we see from above”	“there - pointing- you have to find half of it.”	“because there -pointing- it is whole and there it is also whole” “there, - pointing- the hat is fine and there the kiwi is broken”	“because you can see the inside of the bowl and then you can see the top of the orange”
	8 y	“we see the flower in profile and the cup too”	“the two are not too distant” “it was empty and the cake pan was empty”	“because it’s cut off and here -pointing- too” “because you can see it from behind”	“because it’s different.” “because it’s closer.” “here we could see the cup and the inside of the cup and there we can see the inside of the shoe”	“the hat is a little torn and there, the shoe too” “in the dish there is a cake and in the egg there is the egg white”
	10 y	“this one -pointing- removed petals and there’s a little orange juice” “he is lying down”	“Because it is cut here - pointing-, and here too it is cut”	“Both they’re a little… how to explain, they’re in the way.”	“Here, -pointing it’s closer. and here too it’s closer” “It is seen closer”	“he just lost something and here too- pointing-”

Each example is a verbatim of the spoken justification of the child. We have added the word pointing to justifications when the child was pointing to, or otherwise indicating an item. One or two typical examples of each justification category are reported for each convention and age.