Understanding the truth about subjectivity
Rowley, M. G. and Robinson, Elizabeth J.. (2007) Understanding the truth about subjectivity. Social Development, Vol.16 (No.4). pp. 747-757. ISSN 0961-205x
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00405.x
Results of two experiments show children’s understanding of diversity in personal preference is incomplete. Despite acknowledging diversity, in Experiment 1(N=108), 6-
and 8-year-old children were less likely than adults to see preference as a legitimate basis for personal tastes and more likely to say a single truth could be found about a matter of taste. In Experiment 2 (N=96), 7- and 9-year-olds were less likely than 11- and 13-yearolds to say a dispute about a matter of preference might not be resolved. These data suggest that acceptance of the possibility of diversity does not indicate an adult-like understanding of subjectivity. An understanding of the relative emphasis placed on objective and subjective factors in different contexts continues to develop into adolescence.
|Item Type:||Journal Article|
|Subjects:||B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology|
|Divisions:||Faculty of Science > Psychology|
|Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):||Child psychology, Knowledge, Theory of, Subjectivity|
|Journal or Publication Title:||Social Development|
|Official Date:||November 2007|
|Page Range:||pp. 747-757|
|Access rights to Published version:||Open Access|
Carpendale, J.M., & Chandler, M. (1996). On the distinction between false belief understanding and subscribing to an interpretive theory of mind. Child Development, 67, pp.1686-1709.
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