Preschoolers' understanding of apparent crying in a pretend play context

摘要

This study investigated whether young children could distinguish between apparent crying and real crying presented in stories. Sixty-five children aged 4-6 years were given two types of story (Non-play and Pretend play) in which a protagonist was apparently or really crying. Children answered questions about these crying events. Results showed that 4- and 5-year-olds could distinguish apparent crying from real crying only in the pretend play context, whereas 6-year-olds could distinguish them in both contexts.