Duss Fairy Tales: some data from a new evaluation form

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Children's Literature Analysis

Background:

• Fairy tales offer insights into child psychology and narrative development.
• Previous research on Duss Fairy Tales has not extensively focused on Italian samples or specific narrative variables.
• Understanding children's story construction can reveal cognitive and emotional development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To extend research on Duss Fairy Tales using an Italian sample.
• To analyze specific narrative variables within children's stories, including hero identification, character diversity, emotional expression, and action complexity.
• To investigate the relationship between these narrative variables and children's age and sex.

Main Methods:

• A newly devised schedule was used to score fairy tale protocols.
• Four indexes were analyzed: main hero, number/types of characters, number of emotions, and number of actions/behaviors.
• Seventy Italian children (ages 3.5-10.5) from kindergartens and elementary schools participated.

Main Results:

• Story richness, particularly in terms of emotions and character identification, increased across three age groups.
• Analysis explored correlations between narrative complexity and developmental stages.
• No specific mention of sex-based differences in the provided abstract.

Conclusions:

• Children's narrative complexity in fairy tales develops with age.
• The study highlights the value of analyzing children's storytelling for developmental insights.
• Further research can explore cultural variations and the impact of specific story elements on development.