Premium
Junin Quechua Children's Understanding of Mind
Author(s) -
Vinden Penelope G.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1996.tb01822.x
Subject(s) - misrepresentation , false belief , psychology , action (physics) , developmental psychology , test (biology) , cognitive psychology , relation (database) , social psychology , cognition , theory of mind , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , database , neuroscience , political science , computer science , law , biology
2 tasks that examine the child's understanding of false belief, representational change, and the appearance‐reality distinction were conducted among 34 4‐ to 8‐year‐old Junin Quechua children in Peru. A majority of children demonstrated an understanding of the appearance‐reality distinction, though there was a clear improvement with age. Both younger and older children, however, performed poorly on questions that tested their understanding of representational change and false belief. These results raise questions as to whether or not thinking about thought and its relation to action develops in a similar manner in all cultures. If the Junin Quechua children's understanding of the appearance‐reality distinction is grounded in the same representational ability that is necessary to understand one's own and another's misrepresentation of reality, then we must look for other factors that prevent them from performing correctly on tasks that test their understanding of false belief and representational change.