Reasoning about Make-Believe and Hypothetical Suppositions: Towards a Theory of Belief-Contravening Reasoning

Autor/inn/en	Amsel, Eric; Trionfi, Gabriel; Campbell, Richard
Titel	Reasoning about Make-Believe and Hypothetical Suppositions: Towards a Theory of Belief-Contravening Reasoning
Quelle	In: Cognitive Development, 20 (2005) 4, S.545-575 (31 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0885-2014
DOI	10.1016/j.cogdev.2005.08.002
Schlagwörter	Cognitive Processes; Play; Thinking Skills; Beliefs; Childhood Attitudes; Elementary School Students; Cognitive Development; Age Differences; College Students; Logical Thinking; Child Development; Developmental Stages + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess; Spiel; Denkfähigkeit; Belief; Glaube; Kognitive Entwicklung; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Collegestudent; Kindesentwicklung
Abstract	The present study explores how suppositions which conflict with accepted beliefs are represented and reasoned about. Two studies test the predictions regarding the nature and developmental changes in children's ability to represent and reason about hypothetical or make-believe suppositions which violate their everyday knowledge and beliefs. In Study 1, 46 4th- and 5th-graders were introduced to a hand puppet, Freddy, who made claims inconsistent with generally accepted beliefs (e.g., ''all dogs meow'') because he was pretending (Make-Believe Condition) or believed them (Hypothetical Condition). Participants were asked to think like Freddy and judge whether a conclusion (''There's a dog; does it meow?'') follows logically from the claim. In Study 2, 40 kindergarten (6-year-olds), 3rd-4th grade (10-year-olds), and college students were asked to represent belief contravening make-believe (pretend in a make-believe world that dogs meow) and hypothetical (imagine what the real world would be like if dogs meow) premises, evaluate conclusions of the premises (Rover is a dog, does Rover meow?) and make judgments about the attributes (growl, wag tail, purr, and eat mice) of the entity (a meowing dog) they created. The prediction that it would be easier to represent and reason from belief-contravening suppositions in the Make-Believe than Hypothetical conditions was confirmed in each study, although the two forms of reasoning were directly correlated (Study 2). The results were discussed in terms of the similarities (compartmentalization and integration) and differences (reconciliation) of processes involved in fancifully (make-believe) or seriously (hypothetical) representing and reasoning about belief-contravening suppositions. (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10