Biomedical subjects

Jacqueline D Woolley

Publications and source records attributed to Jacqueline D Woolley.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

A visit from the Candy Witch: factors influencing young children's belief in a novel fantastical being.

Factors hypothesized to affect beliefs in fantastical beings were examined by introducing children to a novel fantastical entity, the Candy Witch. Results revealed that among older preschoolers, children who were visited by the Candy Witch exhibited stronger beliefs in the Candy Witch than did those who were not. Among children who were visited, older children had stronger beliefs than did younger children. Among children who were not visited, those with a high Fantasy Orientation believed more strongly than did those with a low Fantasy Orientation. Belief remained high one year later. At both time points, the number of other fantastical beings in which a child believed was significantly related to belief in the Candy Witch.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2002

Development of beliefs about the origins and controllability of dreams.

In three studies the authors investigated the development of beliefs about dreaming. Study 1 assessed 3- to 5-year-old children's beliefs about the origins and controllability of dreams. Results revealed significant changes in children's beliefs about the roles of behavioral experiences and mental processes in the generation of dream content. Results also revealed that young children consider both dreams and imagination to be highly controllable. In Study 2, preschool-age children, elementary school-age children, and adults received either imagination or dream stories and were questioned about controllability. In Study 3, emotional valence of the dream content was varied. Results of Studies 2 and 3 revealed significant development in beliefs that dreams are not subject to conscious control. Beliefs in controllability were higher among females. Study 3 showed that the emotional content of a dream affects these claims.

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Verbal-behavioral dissociations in development.

Verbal and behavioral measures of children's knowledge are frequently dissociated. These situations represent a largely untapped but important resource for furthering an understanding of human cognition. In this paper, verbal-behavioral dissociations in children are discussed and analyzed, drawing from a wide range of domains. The article explores what might lead to different responses in different modalities, and it is proposed that children's goals may be an important factor. It is concluded that a variety of factors are involved in producing these dissociations, and that a richer picture of development will result from attention to these factors.

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of context on judgments concerning the reality status of novel entities.

Three studies examined the effects of context on decisions about the reality status of novel entities. In Experiment 1 (144, 3- to 5-year-olds), participants less often claimed that novel entities were real when they were introduced in a fantastical than in a scientific context. Experiment 2 (61, 4- to 5-year-olds) revealed that defining novel entities with reference to scientific entities had a stronger effect on reality status judgments than did hearing scientifically oriented stories before encountering the novel entities. The results from Experiment 3 (192, 3- to 6-year-olds) indicated that definitions that support inferences facilitate reality status judgments more than do definitions that simply associate novel and familiar entities. These findings demonstrate that children share with adults an important means of assessing reality status.

Child Behavior↗