title: Do children realize that pretend emotions might be unreal?
abstract: This research is aimed at comparing children's understanding of the distinction between external and internal emotion in deception and pretend play situations. A total of 337 children from 4 to 12 years of age participated in the study. Previous research suggests that in deception situations this understanding is very rudimentary at the age of 4 years, whereas 6-year-olds can articulate it in words. In the present work the children were asked to make this distinction in pretend play or deception tasks. The results show that in pretend play situations children start making this distinction at the age of 6 years, and their performance is better when the simulated emotion is negative rather than positive. These findings suggest that 4-year-olds are not aware that the emotions expressed in pretend play situations might be different from internal emotions.
authors: University of Girona, Spain. francesc.sidera@udg.edu
authors: Francesc
authors: F
authors: Sidera
authors: Elisabet
authors: E
authors: Serrat
authors: Carles
authors: C
authors: Rostan
authors: Mònica
authors: M
authors: Sanz-Torrent
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001364:Awareness; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D008192:Deception; D004644:Emotions; D005201:Fantasy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D010988:Play and Playthings; D011936:Reality Testing