Children’s Developing Understanding of the Cognitive Abilities of Supernatural and Natural Minds
Evidence from Three Cultures
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12901408 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Emily Burdett (0000-0003-2832-4819, University of Nottingham, corresponding author), Justin L Barrett (0000-0001-7178-5237, Fuller Theological Seminary), Tyler S Greenway (0000-0002-4119-8186, Fuller Theological Seminary) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 124-151 |
| Publication date | 2020-08-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal for the Study of Religion Nature and Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1749-4907 • E-ISSN: 1749-4915 |
| Publisher | Equinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1558/jsrnc.39186 |
| OpenAlex | W3048146498 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 54 |
Despite a wealth of research exploring developmental patterns of children’s understanding of the thoughts and desires of another (or, their theory of mind), relatively little research has explored children’s developing understanding of supernatural minds. Of the work that exists, very few studies have explored whether patterns are similar in other cultural contexts, or religious traditions outside of Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies. To address this deficit, the present study recruited 2-to-5-year-old children from three countries (United Kingdom, Albania, and Israel) with different religious traditions (Christian, Muslim, and Jewish). Children completed two perception (audio and visual) tasks and one memory task assessing their understanding of natural and supernatural minds’ cognitive abilities. Analyses revealed different patterns for responses about human minds. However, there were similar results across samples for responses about God, suggesting a shared developmental pattern. We conclude that children from religious traditions with a High God (God, Allah, Ha-Shem) share a similar developing concept of God
Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Judaism · Natural (archaeology · Perception · Theology · Child and Animal Learning Development · History · Infant Health and Development · Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
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Research
Older (but not younger) siblings facilitate false belief understanding
The influence of language and socioeconomic status on children's understanding of false belief
Approaching an understanding of omniscience from the preschool years to early adulthood
Culture and the sequence of steps in theory of mind development
Ethnopsychologies
Pretense and representation
Cultural and Family Influences on Children's Theory of Mind Development
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,33 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2023 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |