Mine, yours, no one's: children's understanding of how ownership affects object use

Two experiments examined children's understanding of how ownership affects object use. In Experiment 1, 84 children age 4-6 were asked what a person was allowed to do with a human-made object that either belonged to the person or belonged to someone else. In Experiment 2, 44 children age 4-5 were asked what a person was allowed to do with a natural object that belonged to the person, belonged to someone else, or belonged to no one. Children were permitted to provide as many responses as they wished. Children's responses reflected an appreciation that ownership affects a wide range of object uses, including harmless object use. Children's responses also reflected an appreciation that owner's rights should be upheld regardless of whether the owner's identity is known, or whether the owner is nearby. Moreover, children's responses suggest that they view ownership as restricting nonowners from using property, rather than affecting use by entitling owners.