When will Little Red Riding Hood become scared? Children’s attribution of mental states to a story character
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9793307 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Samuel Ronfard (0000-0001-5152-0514, Harvard University, corresponding author), Paul L Harris (0000-0003-4907-0539, Harvard University) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 283-292 |
| Publication date | 2014-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Developmental Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0012-1649 • E-ISSN: 1939-0599 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037/a0032970 |
| PMID | 23688172 |
| OpenAlex | W2142977127 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 7 |
As children listen to a simple action-based narrative, they construct a dynamic representation of the protagonist's movements, visual perspective, and goal-directed thoughts. We examined children's representations of more complex narratives in which the protagonist will encounter an unexpected outcome upon reaching his or her goal. Three studies involving 105 children between 3 and 6 years of age showed that children shifted in the mental states they attributed depending on the distance of the protagonist from the unexpected outcome. Even though children consistently recognized that the protagonist did not know about the surprise at any point, they increasingly attributed feelings and thoughts consistent with the surprise. The studies highlight the degree to which children's mental state attributions are dynamic rather than fixed by their current theory of mind
Action (physics · Attribution · Cognition · Construct (python library · Developmental psychology · Feeling · Mental representation · Narrative · Perspective (graphical · Surprise · Theory of mind · Child and Animal Learning Development · Child Development and Digital Technology · Early Childhood Education and Development · Psychology · Social Psychology
Actual Minds, Possible Worlds
The Development of Executive Functioning and Theory of Mind
The Concept of Mind
How Does Narrative Cue Children's Perspective Taking
The emergence of the ability to track a character's mental perspective in narrative
In Cinderella's slippers? Story comprehension from the protagonist's point of view
| Citations per year | 0.75 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Highly cited | No |