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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
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Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure

Published on: September 19, 2019

When children tell stories: developmental considerations.

Pirkko L Graves1

  • 1Washington Center for Psychoanalysis, Washington, DC. The Precursors Study, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, USA. ipgraves24@verizon.net

Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic
|April 19, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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This study explored children's stories created during psychological evaluations. Findings reveal age-specific characteristics in conscious fantasy, including playful reality use and self-referencing in adolescents.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Psychoanalytic Theory
  • Developmental Psychology

Background:

  • Psychoanalytic theory acknowledges children's story creations in clinical settings.
  • Limited research exists on psychoanalytic investigations of these narratives.
  • Understanding children's fantasy is crucial for developmental insights.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze children's narrated stories from psychological evaluations.
  • To identify developmental patterns and age-specific characteristics in children's fantasy.
  • To explore dynamic factors influencing narrative content.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of 40 children's (aged 8-14) stories.
  • Stories were elicited using the Thematic Apperception Test blank card.

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Last Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
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The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling
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  • Qualitative examination of narrative themes and characteristics.

    • Main Results:

    • Stories showed playful engagement with reality as a developmental feature.
    • Specific dynamic factors were identified as influencing thematic content.
    • Humor in latency and self-referencing in (pre-)adolescence emerged as age-specific traits.

    Conclusions:

    • The study enhances understanding of conscious fantasy in children.
    • Narrative analysis provides insights into psychoanalytic developmental concepts.
    • Findings highlight age-related shifts in fantasy expression and cognitive processes.