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ERIC Number: EJ818407
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Jan
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0965
EISSN: N/A
Children Do Not Follow the Rule "Ignorance Means Getting It Wrong"
Friedman, Ori; Petrashek, Adam R.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, v102 n1 p114-121 Jan 2009
Two experiments tested whether 4- and 5-year-olds follow the rule "ignorance means you get it wrong." Following this rule should lead children to infer that a character who is ignorant about some situation will also have a false belief about it. This rule should sometimes lead children into error because ignorance does not imply false belief. In Experiment 1, children and adults were told about a girl who is looking for her dog but does not know which of two boxes it is under. Most children predicted that the girl would look in the box with the dog and not in the empty box; adults chose both boxes equally. Experiment 2 used a similar story but varied whether the girl wants to approach or avoid her dog. Again, most children predicted that the girl would succeed. These findings suggest that children do not follow the rule "ignorance means you get it wrong." (Contains 3 figures.)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A