ROLES OF EGOCENTRISM AND OF WEAKNESS IN COMPARING IN CHILDRENS EXPLANATIONS OF COMMUNICATION FAILURE

In Experiment 1, 65 children between the ages of 4 years, 11 months and 6 years, 11 months observed a communication game during which they judged the adequacy of two types of message and ascribed blame for communication failure. Judgments about messages that referred to more than one card (too general) were closely associated with judgments about messages that referred uniquely to the chosen card for the speaker, but not for the listener (idiosyncratic or egocentric [p < .001]). Weakness in comparison activity and failure to differentiate between speaker's and listener's perspectives may not be independent sources of immature judgments. In Experiment 2, 61 children between the ages of 3 years, 11 months and 6 years, 6 months were required to make equivalent comparisons between pairs of cards in a communication evaluation game and a description task. Half of those who failed in the first were successful in the second (p = .03). It is therefore necessary to distinguish between the child's ability to make comparisons and his recognition of when these need to be made. © 1978.