The effect of fantastical elements on preschoolers’ false belief task performance

Abstract

Fantastical narratives may lessen the executive functions (EF) burden of false belief (FB) reasoning. Specifically, we hypothesized that fantasy contexts may alleviate the reality bias and allow children to entertain false beliefs more effectively. In two experiments, this study investigated whether children’s FB performance is influenced by the degree of fantastical elements in false belief tasks. In both experiments, children’s EF abilities were measured to see if the effect of fantasy remained after controlling for EF. The fantastical content of FB tasks and the order of fantastical (FF-FB) and realistic (RF-FB) false belief tasks were manipulated in a mixed-subject design with preschool children. In Experiment 1, children performed better in FF-FB even after controlling for their EF abilities. Experiment 2 replicated these results and revealed that 3-year-olds who completed the FF-FB tasks before the RF-FB tasks outperformed 3-year-olds who saw the reverse order when controlling for fantasy orientation and EF abilities. These findings imply that the fantasy context has a positive effect on children’s FB reasoning that extends beyond lessening the EF burden. Future work, especially training studies, could provide insight into the workings of this effect by focusing on the degree and features of fantasy and whether the observed changes are lasting.