The purpose of this study was to improve our understanding of young children's emerging theory of mind. The study focused on age differences in children's ability to use deception--an index of theory of mind--in a hide and seek game developed by Chandler et al. (1989). The task was modified to provide a more precise estimate of age differences in children's abilities: First, two characters, good and bad, were incorporated into the research design to assure that real representational understanding convey the child's behavior. Second, two levels of involvement in the tasks were employed, pretend play and socio-dramatic play. / In the first level of involvement, pretend play, the child was asked to help a doll, dressed up either as "best" or "baddest" figure, to hide a chocolate kiss in one of the cans on the board. The doll, with a marker attached to its foot, left traces on the board. In the second level, socio-dramatic play, the child, dressed up as either the "good guy" or the "bad guy", was asked to hide the chocolate kiss. Special rubber boots, with a marker attached to one of them, were put over the child's shoes. In both situations, pretend and socio-dramatic play, the child needed to decide when to help or hinder the chocolate's finding. In the wake of this decision, the child determined what deceptive strategy to employ. / Ninety preschool children, equally divided by gender, from Tallahassee, 30 in each age group, 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds, participated in this study. The results indicate that 4-year-olds used significantly (p $<$ 0.00) more deceptive strategies discriminately in pretend and socio-dramatic play than 2- and 3-year-olds. There was no difference between 2- and 3-year-olds in the use of deceptive strategies. Both groups employed less strategies in the "bad" tasks than in the "good" tasks. No differences were found between the three groups performance in the "good" tasks. The level of involvement in the task, and gender did not affect the performance. / This study supports the notion of rudimentary theory of mind in preschool children. Age four seems as a watershed in this development. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-11, Section: A, page: 4272. / Major Professor: Murray Krantz. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77038 |
| Contributors | Ritblatt, Shulamit Natan., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 169 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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