Do children think that duplicating the body also duplicates the mind?

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Philosophy of Mind
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Philosophers use duplication thought experiments to probe personal identity.
• Understanding children's intuitions about identity and duplication is crucial for developmental and cognitive science.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate 5- to 6-year-olds' intuitions regarding the duplication of physical properties versus episodic memories.
• To explore whether young children perceive mental properties as distinct from physical ones in duplication scenarios.

Main Methods:

• Children were presented with scenarios involving the apparent duplication of a live hamster.
• Participants' judgments about the transfer of physical properties and episodic memories to the duplicate were assessed across five studies.
• Lower-level explanations and the effect of naming the original hamster were systematically ruled out.

Main Results:

• Children attributed more duplicated physical properties than episodic memories to the duplicate hamster.
• Episodic memories were considered less likely to duplicate than camera-captured events.
• Naming the original hamster decreased the perceived duplication of memories.

Conclusions:

• Young children's intuitions suggest they differentiate between the duplication of mental (memory) and physical properties.
• These findings support the view that children may possess early-developing distinctions between mental and physical aspects of self.