Children's use of looking behavior as a cue to detect another's goal

Author(s): Bach, L. M., Moran, C.

Journal/Book: Child Develop. 1998; 69: 5720 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL 60637. Univ Chicago Press. 692-705.

Abstract: Three studies Examined children's understanding of the role that looking behavior Flays in revealing another's desired goal. Ln each study, participants were asked which of 2 objects a protagonist wanted to obtain. Four-year-olds did not infer that an object examined via prolonged looking was more likely to be the protagonist's goal than an object that was either glanced at or inadvertently touched. Instead, they were accurate only when the protagonist looked at one of two potential goals. Ln contrast, the majority of 6-year-olds land adults in Experiment 1) consistently regarded prolonged looking as the more important cue of the protagonist's goal. These age differences suggest that development is characterized by an increasing appreciation that goal is revealed by comparative differences in the quality of perceptual connectedness to objects in the world. One explanation for these age differences is that preschoolers are limited in their understanding of the difference between perceiving with full attention and without it.

Note: Article Montgomery DE, Bradley Univ, Dept Psychol, Peoria,IL 61625 USA

Keyword(s): ATTENTION; MIND

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