ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B

›› 2003, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (05): 662-668.

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DEVELOPMENT OF 3~5 YEAR OLD CHILDREN’S RECOGNITION OF PRETENSE AND INFERENCE OF PRETENDER’S MENTAL STATE

Wang Guiqin,Fang Ge   

  1. Key Lab of Mental Health, Istitute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
  • Received:2002-06-08 Revised:1900-01-01 Published:2003-09-30 Online:2003-09-30
  • Contact: Fang Ge

Abstract: The study examined the procedure and characteristics of 3~5 year-old preschoolers’ understanding of pretence. Three conditions were installed:toys, substitutes and imagination. Two level of investigations were performed: preschooler’s recognition of pretense and inference of pretender’s mental state. The results showed that: (1) most 3~5 year-old preschoolers can recognize pretence,but the ability of inference of a pretender’s mind is gradually developed at 5; (2) 3~5 year-old preschoolers’ cognition of pretence is easily affected by supports; (3) preschoolers’ recognition of pretense mainly inclined to external features

Key words: child, theory of mind, pretence, false belief, metarepresentation

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