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Scene schemata and scripts in children's understanding of hospital
C Eiser1, J R Eiser, B A Jones
1Department of Psychology, Washington Singer Laboratories, University of Exeter, England.
Insights
Children aged 3-10 years possess organized knowledge of hospital scenes and routines. Their understanding, based on schemas and scripts, allows for plausible inferences about hospital environments and activities.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Development
- Developmental Psychology
- Childhood Social Cognition
Background:
- Children's understanding of complex environments like hospitals is crucial for their well-being and cooperation.
- Prior research indicates children form mental representations (schemas) of familiar situations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the organization of children's knowledge about hospital scenes and routines.
- To determine if children use schemas and scripts to interpret hospital-related information.
- To assess developmental changes in this knowledge across different age groups.
Main Methods:
- Study 1: 90 children (3-5 years) identified items in a hospital photograph, analyzing error plausibility.
- Study 2: 152 children (3-10 years) sequenced hospital and school photographs to 'tell a story', assessing agreement on order and importance.
Main Results:
- Children made more plausible than implausible errors regarding hospital scenes, indicating schema use.
- High agreement was observed across age groups in sequencing hospital and school activities and identifying key photographs.
- Data suggest children's hospital knowledge is structured by rudimentary schemas and scripts.
Conclusions:
- Children aged 3-10 years demonstrate organized, schema-based knowledge of hospitals.
- This knowledge facilitates plausible inferences about hospital scenes and activities.
- Findings highlight the development of cognitive structures for understanding complex social environments.
Abstract:
In a first study, 90 children (aged 3-5 years) were shown a photograph of a hospital scene, and then asked to identify which of 12 separate items were present in the original scene. Children made more plausible than implausible errors, suggesting that they had well-organized schemata for hospital scenes. In a second study, we investigated children's knowledge of hospital-related routines and activities. A total of 152 children (aged 3-5, 6-8 and 9-10 years) were shown five photographs of hospital and five photographs of school, and asked to arrange each set to 'tell a story'. Children in different age groups showed relatively high agreement in their orderings, and also in selecting the 'most important photograph'. The data suggest that children's knowledge of hospital is organized around rudimentary schemata and scripts, which enable them to make very plausible inferences about hospital scenes and activities.