| Literature DB >> 35531952 |
Krisztina Andrási1,2,3, Réka Schvajda1,2,3, Ildikó Király1,3.
Abstract
The present study examined whether three-year-old children (age = 42-48 months, n = 57; 31 boys) understand that object identities stipulated during pretend play could only be known by people witnessing the stipulation. Children participated in pretend scenarios that included some objects and two experimenters. Two pretend episodes corresponded to an object: one connected to its conventional function, the other to a pretend identity made-up on the spot. These episodes happened either in the presence or absence of the other person. In the test phase, this experimenter expressed an intention to do something with an object and asked for a 'missing' prop. The prediction was that in case she was present previously, children would be more likely to select the prop corresponding to a pretence stipulation, compared to when she was absent. The results confirmed this pattern: in the absent condition, 68.42% of the participants chose the prop connected to the conventional use of the object, while 31.58% chose the prop corresponding to its identity stipulated in pretend play. It seems that preschool aged children refrain from generalizing their knowledge about the pretend identity of an object, in case their interactive partner could not know of this identity.Entities:
Keywords: conventions; pretence; shared knowledge; social cognition
Mesh:
Year: 2022 PMID: 35531952 PMCID: PMC9545026 DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12417
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Br J Dev Psychol ISSN: 0261-510X
FIGURE 1Experimental procedure: The images depict the target objects and the props used in the game scenarios. The image on the right illustrates the test phase, as E2 is making the request
FIGURE 2Proportions of prop type choices in the two conditions
Frequency of prop type choices in the two conditions additionally grouped by target object type (key or pencil)
| E2 present | E2 absent | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Object choice | ||||
| Conventional use | Pretend identity | Conventional use | Pretend identity | |
| Target object | ||||
| Key | 19 | 8 | 14 | 16 |
| Pencil | 20 | 10 | 11 | 16 |