PSYCH211 Lecture : November 10 Lecture Notes Detailed lecture notes.
16 Oct 2011
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Document Summary
Child needs to develop a theory of mental states. Child is like a little scientist who must develop a theory of mental states. Ability to reason about beliefs is innate. Children possess concepts of belief even when they fail the false belief task Processing limitations lack of inhibitory resources Artifacts = any human-made thing; made for a purpose/function. Natural kinds = things that exist naturally; don"t depend on people, no purpose/function. Children (4-10) often believe that everything exists for a purpose or function. View that all kinds of entities (artifacts and natural objects) exists for a purpose. Essentialism - applies more to natural kinds than to artifacts. Artifacts don"t have essences" in the same way that natural kinds do. e. g. coffee pot to birdfeeder; raccoon to skunk. Belief that things have an underlying nature that one cannot observe directly. Causes members of category to be similar. Implication 1: category members expected to share common underlying structure.
