The role of belief veracity in understanding intentions-in-action: preschool children's performance on the transparent intentions task
Article
Russell, J., Hill, E. and Franco, F. 2001. The role of belief veracity in understanding intentions-in-action: preschool children's performance on the transparent intentions task. Cognitive Development. 16 (3), pp. 775-792. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2014(01)00057-0
Type | Article |
---|---|
Title | The role of belief veracity in understanding intentions-in-action: preschool children's performance on the transparent intentions task |
Authors | Russell, J., Hill, E. and Franco, F. |
Abstract | It is possible to have either true or false beliefs about what one is currently doing (an ‘intention-in-action’; [Searle, J. R. (1983). Intentionality: an essay in the philosophy of mind. New York: Cambridge University Press.]). The theory-theory account of the development of ‘mentalising’ skills between 3 and 4 years of age predicts that younger children should find false intentions-in-action more difficult to report than true intentions-in-action. In contrast, an executive theory of development at 3 and 4 years of age would predict that the perceived outcome of the action at the time of questioning should determine the younger child's answer, with the truth-value of the past belief playing no role. We presented 3- and 4-year-old children with a novel drawing task—the transparent intentions task—in order to pit these two accounts against each other. The truth-value of the child's (or a puppet's) intention-in-action played no role in performance. Incorrect answers referred to the unexpected final outcome of the drawing. This result supports the executive theory. |
Research Group | Language, Learning and Cognition group |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Journal | Cognitive Development |
ISSN | 0885-2014 |
Publication dates | |
2001 | |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 05 Nov 2009 |
Output status | Published |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2014(01)00057-0 |
Language | English |
https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/81x91
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