ERIC Number: ED260811
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1985-Apr
Pages: 14
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Development of Script Knowledge in Children from 18 to 30 Months of Age.
Ungerer, Judy A.
The purpose of this research was to examine 18- to 30-month-old children's use of scripts for representing common events. A script is defined as a model that specifies the roles and props appropriate to an event and identifies a sequence of acts for achieving the goal defined by the event. Two aspects of script knowledge were investigated: (1) the development of the ability to maintain the appropriate temporal order of events within a script and (2) the development of the ability to represent social roles within a script. The white, middle-class sample consisted of boys and girls from four age groups: 18, 22, 26, and 30 months of age. A total of nine action sequences was modelled for each child--three using a single doll as a passive recipient of action (bathing, eating, and going to bed), three composed of nonmeaningful combinations of script sequences, and three using one doll as an independent agent and one as a passive recipient of action. All sequences were four acts in length. Several measures summarizing subjects' imitation task performance were scored. Results demonstrated that children as young as 18 months of age incorporate information about the temporal order of actions in their script knowledge of events. Few children demonstrated an understanding of differentiated role structures. Age differences were found, but these appeared to be more quantitative than qualitative in nature. (RH)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Researchers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A