Children's understanding of the distinction between intentions and desires.
Much of the previous research on children's understanding of intentions confounded intentions with desires. Intentions and desires are different, in that a desire can be satisfied in a number of ways, but an intention must be satisfied by carrying out the intended action. Children 3 through 7 years of age and adults were presented with situations in which intentions were satisfied but desires were not, or vice versa, in a story-comprehension task (N = 71) and a target-hitting game (N = 45). Although 3- and 4-year-olds were unable to differentiate desires and intentions consistently, 5- and 7-year-olds often matched the adult pattern. Younger children's difficulties in understanding intentions are discussed in terms of their use of a desire-outcome matching strategy and the representational complexities of intentions.
Schult
Carolyn A
CA
Psychology Department, Indiana University South Bend, 46634, USA. cschult@iusb.edu
D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D009042:Motivation; D012938:Social Perception