Children judge puppets retelling stories

If your child's first language is English and they are six years of age, they are eligible. They should be able to choose a button on screen using a mouse or touchscreen.

Your child will listen to some stories and then judge whether a puppet retells the story correctly. Specifically, your child will select between smiley or sad faces to judge how well the puppets did. Some questions will also ask what characters in the stories know.

Previous research has investigated children’s developing understanding of words like “think” and “know” and found that learning these words allows more complex reasoning about characters in a story. In the current study, we focus on words that have received less research: “in order to” and “because”. By seeing how children of different ages interpret the stories, and especially which puppet retellings they think are accurate, we will see the development of understanding the words “in order to” and “because” and how they relate to understanding others’ perspectives.

The introduction, stories and questions can be done in 30 minutes, but should take no more than 40 minutes.

If you agree to share your email, we will send you an e-book designed to teach language about the mind in a funny illustrated story, and written for children of this age range. The link will be sent in a week or two after completion. In order to receive the compensation, the child needs to be in the age range and be visible attending to the stories.