NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ1357368
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1524-8372
EISSN: EISSN-1532-7647
Is What Mickey Mouse Says Impossible? Informant Reality Status and Children's Beliefs in Extraordinary Events
Williams, Allison J.; Danovitch, Judith H.
Journal of Cognition and Development, v23 n3 p323-339 2022
As children get older, they become better able to discriminate between impossible and improbable statements and they realize that improbable events can occur in reality while impossible ones cannot. However, when children hear about extraordinary events from fictional entities (e.g., popular characters from children's media), they may be more likely to doubt that the events can occur in reality. The current studies examine how an informant's reality status and familiarity influence children's belief in statements about improbable and impossible events. Across two studies, children ages 4, 6, and 8 (N = 362) heard impossible and improbable statements from an unfamiliar person, a familiar character, or an unfamiliar character (Study 1) or a real or pretend person (Study 2) and judged whether each statement could happen in reality. As in previous studies, older children were more likely than younger children to believe improbable events could occur. Additionally, for both types of statements, children's judgments about the possibility of the events were similar regardless of the informant. These results suggest that when children hear extraordinary statements described by fictional characters, they pay more attention to the content of the statement than to the source.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/e9vbu