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Young children's understanding of the non‐physical nature of thoughts and the physical nature of the brain
Author(s) -
Watson Julanne K.,
Gelman Susan A.,
Wellman Henry M.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
british journal of developmental psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 2044-835X
pISSN - 0261-510X
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-835x.1998.tb00755.x
Subject(s) - psychology , object (grammar) , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , mental representation , cognition , physical development , physical body , neuroscience , philosophy , linguistics , epistemology
Two studies addressed pre‐schoolers' understanding of the non‐physical nature of thinking, as well as their understanding of the physical nature of the brain. Specifically, we considered whether young children understand that entities such as thought‐about items are mental, not physical, versus the possibility that they think mental entities are physical but simply inaccessible. In addition, we considered the possibility that children may conceive of the brain, a physiological but mentally involved organ, as not physical, instead of the adult‐like belief that the brain is physical. Mental entities were compared to real physical and inaccessible entities, namely swallowed items, and the brain was compared to the stomach. Study 1 showed that although correct responses increased with age, 3‐year‐olds, as well as 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds, clearly understood that the thought‐about objects were not physically in the head, whereas swallowed objects were physically inside the body. Study 2 extended and replicated these results in another sample of 3‐year‐olds, using more stringent methods. Three‐year‐olds in both studies performed at chance in judging the brain as a physically present object, but both 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds understood that the brain, like the stomach, is a physical object inside the body.