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Factors influencing children's hypothetical reference*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Stan A. Kuczaj II
Stan A. Kuczaj II
Affiliation:
Southern Methodist University
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Abstract

Sixty 3- to 6-year-old children were tested in order to assess certain aspects of their ability to answer questions alluding to hypothetical events. Each child was asked four hypothetical questions from each of four topic areas: (1) past-parent, (2) past-fantasy, (3) future-parent and (4) future-fantasy. Although correct responses increased with age for each of the four categories, children more often responded correctly to future hypothetical questions than to past hypothetical questions and to hypothetical questions involving fantasy characters than to hypothetical questions involving the children's parents. Moreover, the interaction of the past-future and parent-fantasy factors yielded an overall pattern of difficulty for the four topic areas. These findings are discussed in terms of the factors which influence the development of hypothetical reference skills.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , February 1981 , pp. 131 - 137
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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Footnotes

[*]

A version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, 9-11 November 1978, in San Antonio, Texas. Address for correspondence: Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275.

References

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