ERIC Number: EJ684492
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Mar
Pages: 16
Abstractor: Author
Reference Count: 0
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
The Natural Emergence of Reasoning about the Afterlife as a Developmental Regularity
Bering, Jesse M.; Bjorklund, David F.
Developmental Psychology, v40 n2 p217-233 Mar 2004
Participants were interviewed about the biological and psychological functioning of a dead agent. In Experiment 1, even 4- to 6-year-olds stated that biological processes ceased at death, although this trend was more apparent among 6- to 8-year-olds. In Experiment 2, 4- to 12-year-olds were asked about psychological functioning. The youngest children were equally likely to state that both cognitive and psychobiological states continued at death, whereas the oldest children were more likely to state that cognitive states continued. In Experiment 3, children and adults were asked about an array of psychological states. With the exception of preschoolers, who did not differentiate most of the psychological states, older children and adults were likely to attribute epistemic, emotional, and desire states to dead agents. These findings suggest that developmental mechanisms underlie intuitive accounts of dead agents' minds.
Descriptors: Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Development, Children, Death, Cognitive Processes, Thinking Skills, Child Development, Age Differences
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: N/A

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