Children's understanding of the pretence-reality distinction: A review of current theory and evidence

Developmental Science

Volumn 5, Issue 4, 2002, Pages 397-413

  Bourchier, Alison ^a   Davis, Alyson ^b  

^a BRUNEL UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SURREY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0036851602     PISSN: 1363755X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1467-7687.00236_1     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Allerton, M. (1995). Emotions and coping: children's talk about negative emotional responses to television. Early Child Development and Care, 109, 1-22.
2. Amsel, E., Bobadilla, W., Coch, D., & Remy, R. (1996). Young children's memory for the true and pretend identities of objects. Developmental Psychology, 32, 479-491.
3. Bourchier, A. (1998). The influence of availability, affect and empirical evidence on individual differences in children's understanding of pretence. Unpublished PhD thesis. University of Surrey.
4. Bourchier, A., & Davis, A. (2000a). The influence of availability and affect on children's pretence. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 18, 137-156.
5. Bourchier, A., & Davis, A. (2000b). Individual and developmental differences in children's understanding of the fantasy-reality distinction. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 18, 353-368.
6. Bretherton, I. (1989). Pretence: the form and function of make-believe play. Developmental Review, 9, 383-401.
7. Bretherton, I., & Beeghly, M. (1989). Pretence: acting 'as if'. In J.J. Lockman & N.L. Hazen (Eds.), Action in social context: Perspectives on early development (pp. 239-271). New York: Plenum Press.
8. Clements, W.A., & Perner, J. (1994). Implicit understanding of belief. Cognitive Development, 9, 377-395.
9. Corrigan, R. (1987). A developmental sequence of actor-object pretend play in young children. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 33, 87-106.
10. Custer, W.L. (1996). A comparison of young children's understanding of contradictory representations on pretence, memory, and belief. Child Development, 67, 678-688.
11. DiLalla, L.F., & Watson, M.W. (1988). Differentiation of fantasy and reality: preschoolers' reactions to interruptions in their play. Developmental Psychology, 24, 286-291.
12. Elder, J.L., & Pederson, D.R. (1978). Pre-school children's use of objects in symbolic play. Child Development, 49, 500-504.
13. Estes, D., Wellman, H.M., & Woolley, J.D. (1989). Children's understanding of mental phenomena. In H.W. Reese (Ed.), Advances in child development and behaviour (pp. 41-87). New York: Academic Press.
14. Fein, G.G. (1975). A transformational analysis of pretending. Developmental Psychology, 11, 291-296.
15. Fein, G.G. (1989). Mind, meaning, and affect: proposals for a theory of pretence. Developmental Review, 9, 345-363.
16. Flavell, J.H., Flavell, E.R., & Green, F.L. (1987). Young children's knowledge about the apparent-real and pretend-real distinctions. Developmental Psychology, 23, 816-822.
17. Frijda, N.H. (1988). The laws of emotion. American Psychologist, 43, 349-358.
18. Garvey, C. (1991). Play (Second Edition). London: Fontana.
19. Garvey, C., & Berndt, R. (1977). The organization of pretend play. Catalogue of Selected Documents in Psychology, 7, Manuscript Number 1589.
20. Golomb, C., & Galasso, L. (1995). Make believe and reality: explorations of the imaginary realm. Developmental Psychology, 31, 800-810.
21. Golomb, C., & Kuersten, R. (1996). On the transition from pretence play to reality: what are the rules of the game? British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 14, 203-217.
22. Gopnik, A., & Slaughter, V. (1991). Young children's understanding of changes in their mental states. Child Development, 62, 98-110.
23. Harris, P.L., Brown, E., Marriott, C., Whittall, S., & Harmer, S. (1991). Monsters, ghosts and witches: testing the limits of the fantasy-reality distinction in young children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9, 105-123.
24. Harris, P.L., Kavanaugh, R.D., & Meredith, M.C. (1994). Young children's comprehension of pretend episodes: the integration of successive actions. Child Development, 65, 16-30.
25. Hickling, A.K., Wellman, H.M., & Gottfried, G.M. (1997). Preschoolers' understanding of others' mental attitudes towards pretend happenings. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 15, 339-354.
26. Johnson, C.N., & Harris, P.L. (1994). Magic: special but not excluded. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12, 35-51.
27. Johnston, D.D. (1995). Adolescents' motivations for viewing graphic horror. Human Communication Research, 21, 522-552.
28. Kinoshita, T. (1994). Young children's understanding of mental representation: pretend and dream. Psychologia, 37, 1-6.
29. Leslie, A.M. (1987). Pretence and representation: the origins of 'Theory of Mind'. Psychological Review, 94, 412-426.
30. Lillard, A.S. (1994). Making sense of pretence. In C. Lewis & P. Mitchell (Eds.), Children's early understanding of mind: Origins and development (pp. 211-234). Hove: Erlbaum.
31. Lillard, A.S., & Flavell, J.H. (1992). Young children's understanding of different mental states. Developmental Psychology, 28, 626-634.
32. Marjanovic-Shane, A. (1989). 'You are a pig': for real or just pretend? Different orientations in play and metaphor. Play and Culture, 2, 225-234.
33. Murry, J.P., & Dacin, P.A. (1996). Cognitive moderators of negative-emotion effects: implications for understanding media context. Journal of Consumer Research, 22, 439-447.
34. Samuels, A., & Taylor, M. (1994). Children's ability to distinguish fantasy events from real-life events. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12, 417-427.
35. Sparks, G.G. (1986). Developmental differences in children's reports of fear induced by the mass media. Child Study Journal, 16, 55-66.
36. Subbotsky, E.V. (1993). Foundations of the mind: Children's understanding of reality. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
37. Tamborini, R., Stiff, J., & Heidel, C. (1990). Reacting to graphic horror: a model of empathy and emotional behaviour. Communication Research, 17, 616-640.
38. Taylor, M. (1990). Personal communication. Cited in Lillard, A.S. (1994). Making sense of pretence. In C. Lewis & P. Mitchell (Eds.), Children's early understanding of mind: Origins and development (pp. 211-234). Hove: Erlbaum.
39. Taylor, M. (1997). The role of creative control and culture in children's fantasy/reality judgements. Child Development, 68, 1015-1017.
40. Taylor, M., Cartwright, B.S., & Carlson, S.M. (1993). A developmental investigation of children's imaginary companions. Developmental Psychology, 29, 276-285.
41. Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1973). Availability: a heuristic for judging frequency and probability. Cognitive Psychology, 5, 207-232.
42. Wahi, S., & Johri, R. (1994). Questioning a universal theory of mind: mental-real distinctions made by Indian children. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 155, 503-510.
43. Wellman, H.M. (1990). The child's theory of mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
44. Wellman, H.M., & Estes, D. (1986). Early understanding of mental entities: a reexamination of childhood realism. Child Development, 57, 910-923.
45. Woolley, J.D. (1995a). Young children's understanding of fictional versus epistemic mental representations: imagination and belief. Child Development, 66, 1011-1021.
46. Woolley, J.D. (1995b). The fictional mind: young children's understanding of imagination, pretence, and dreams. Developmental Review, 15, 172-211.
47. Woolley, J.D. (1997). Thinking about fantasy: are children fundamentally different thinkers and believers from adults? Child Development, 68, 991-1011.
48. Woolley, J.D., & Phelps, K.E. (1994). Young children's practical reasoning about imagination. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12, 53-67.
49. Woolley, J.D., & Wellman, H.M. (1990). Young children's understanding of realities, nonrealities, and appearances. Child Development, 61, 946-961.
50. Woolley, J.D., & Wellman, H.H. (1993). Origin and truth: young children's understanding of imaginary mental representations. Child Development, 64, 1-17.