Children Talk About the Mind
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What, exactly, do children understand about the mind? And when does that understanding first emerge? In this groundbreaking book, Karen Bartsch and Henry Wellman answer these questions and much more by taking a probing look at what children themselves have to tell us about their evolving conceptions of people and their mental lives. By examining more than 200,000 everyday conversations (sampled from ten children between the ages of two and five years), the authors advance a comprehensive "naive theory of mind" that incorporates both early desire and belief-desire theories to trace childhood development through its several stages. Throughout, the book offers a splendidly written account of extensive original findings and critical new insights that will be eagerly read by students and researchers in developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, philosophy, and psycholinguistics.Reviews
"This is an excellent--probably the most important--publication in the field this year. The research and issues it addresses are important, the analysis of data is very careful and detailed, the evidence is different from most of what we have used in this field, and most of the conclusions are well supported by the authors' data and are quite persuasive." --John Flavell, Stanford University
"The contents of the young child's mind have been the subject of speculation and inquiry for a long time. Here, however, in this remarkable book, children as young as two years old are telling us--in their own words--what they have in mind, and what they believe other persons have in mind as well. Karen Bartsch and Henry Wellman have already made a major contribution to understanding how young children come to think about the mind. Now they have listened to what young people say about what they think and what they know, and the result is a wealth of insights into children's beliefs and desires about themselves, other persons, and the world. It is an important achievement that cannot help but influence research and theory in developmental psychology and educational practice for years to come. --Lois Bloom, Teachers College, Columbia University
"Bartsch and Wellman ask when and how children come to understand people as "mentalistic," i.e. people who think, know, want, wish, fear, hope, intend. . .Of interest to developmentalists, linguists, philosophers." --Choice
About the Author(s)
Karen Bartsch, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Wyoming, and Henry M. Wellman, Professor of Psychology and Research Scientist, University of Michigan
