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International Journal of Behavioral Development, Vol. 30, No. 6, 550-558 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0165025406072903

Children's beliefs about authorship

M. Chiara Levorato

University of Padova, Italy

Barbara Arfé

University of Verona, Italy

Two studies investigated children's beliefs about texts and their origins in an author's mind. In Study 1, 80 children between 4 and 7 years of age were interviewed during a dialogic story-reading activity to investigate their level of awareness about the author's existence and his or her mental processes. Study 2, involving only 5-and 6-year-olds, tested the hypothesis that guided reflection on fictional realities in a story might facilitate children's understanding that an author exists and that a story is the result of his or her mental activity. Results show that mature conceptions of the mental origins of the text appear around the age of 7 but that structured reflection about the fictional nature of the story may trigger this awareness starting around the age of 5 or 6.

Key Words: authorship • children's beliefs • theory of mind

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This Article
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