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Related Experiment Videos

When 3-year-olds pass the appearance--reality test

C Rice1, D Koinis, K Sullivan

  • 1Department of Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02167, USA.

Developmental Psychology
|January 1, 1997
PubMed
Summary

Three-year-olds understand appearance versus reality better when they can deceive others or process simpler information. This developmental finding highlights cognitive flexibility in young children.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Development
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Theory of Mind

Background:

  • Understanding the difference between how something appears and what it truly is (appearance-reality distinction) is a key developmental milestone.
  • Previous research suggests challenges for young children in mastering this distinction.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate factors influencing 3-year-olds' ability to distinguish appearance from reality.
  • To examine if task context (deception vs. information processing) impacts performance on appearance-reality tasks.

Main Methods:

  • Sixty-eight 3-year-olds completed a standard appearance-reality task.
  • Participants were also assigned to either a 'trick task' (deceptive game context) or a 'reduced information processing task' (dual object presentation).

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Main Results:

  • Children were significantly more successful in the trick task or reduced information processing task compared to the standard task.
  • Performance suggests that context and cognitive load influence the ability to differentiate appearance and reality.

Conclusions:

  • Three-year-olds demonstrate the capacity to grasp the appearance-reality distinction.
  • Success is facilitated when children aim to deceive (priming theory of mind) or when cognitive demands are reduced by avoiding simultaneous conflicting object identities.