@inproceedings{667ba9f7a7964b2d905de13f5d4e85cd,
title = "Analogical comparison aids false belief understanding in preschoolers",
abstract = "Analogical comparison has been found to promote learning across many conceptual domains. Here, we ask whether this mechanism can facilitate children's understanding of others' mental states. In Experiment 1, children carried out comparisons between characters' thoughts and reality and between characters with true beliefs vs. those with false beliefs. Children given this training improved from pre- to post-test. In Experiment 2, we used a more minimal comparison technique. Children saw a series of three stories involving true or false beliefs. There were two between-subjects conditions that either facilitated (High Alignability) or impeded (Low Alignability) comparison across stories. We found that children made more gains from pre- to post-test in the High Alignability condition than in the Low Alignability condition. We also found effects of production of mental state verbs, as assessed in an Elicitation Task. These results provide evidence for the role of analogical comparison in theory of mind development.",
keywords = "analogy, cognitive development, comparison, false belief, social cognition, theory of mind",
author = "Christian Hoyos and Horton, {William S} and Dedre Gentner",
note = "Funding Information: We thank the children, families, and preschools who participated, and the Cognitive Modeling Group and the Cognition and Language Lab for comments on this work. This research was supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship DGE-0824162 to C. Hoyos, and an ONR N00014-08-1-0 grant to D. Gentner. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2015.All rights reserved.; 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Mind, Technology, and Society, CogSci 2015 ; Conference date: 23-07-2015 Through 25-07-2015",
year = "2015",
language = "English (US)",
series = "Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2015",
publisher = "The Cognitive Science Society",
pages = "944--949",
editor = "Noelle, {David C.} and Rick Dale and Anne Warlaumont and Jeff Yoshimi and Teenie Matlock and Jennings, {Carolyn D.} and Maglio, {Paul P.}",
booktitle = "Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2015",
}
