ERIC Number: EJ939687
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 71
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1524-8372
When to Cry over Spilled Milk: Young Children's Use of Category Information to Guide Inferences about Ambiguous Behavior
Giles, Jessica W.; Heyman, Gail D.
Journal of Cognition and Development, v5 n3 p359-382 2004
Three studies (N = 171) examined preschool children's tendency to use category information to make inferences about ambiguous behavior. Children heard stories in which category information about story characters was manipulated and behavioral information was held constant. Participants were asked to evaluate, explain, and determine the significance of the behavior in question. Children tended to be harsher judges of the same ambiguous behaviors when performed by (a) humans as compared to animals, (b) boys compared to girls, and (c) older children compared to younger children. Results suggest that young children hold differentiated notions of the mental states and dispositions that underlie behavior and that these notions vary as a function of category membership. These findings support the conclusion that even young children can hold and use multiple folk psychologies. (Contains 3 tables.)
Descriptors: Preschool Children, Inferences, Classification, Computer Assisted Testing, Thinking Skills, Story Reading, Listening, Questioning Techniques, Responses, Social Psychology
Psychology Press. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: N/A

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