An Analogical Model of Pretense

We argue that pretense can be viewed as analogical projection: a structural comparison between the pretend scenario and its real-world counterpart that leads to inferences about the pretend scenario. For example, in pretending to make a phone call with a banana, a number pad might be projected on the banana's surface. We model two empirical studies of early childhood pretense, and show how successful pretense requires making and accepting such inferences, while failed pretense can be traced to failure of such projection. Other models of pretense, both theoretical and computational, and their relationships to our model, are discussed.