EMPATHIC ROLE-TAKING PRECURSORS

Investigated the possibility that young children make empathic inferences by reading off feeling states from common situations. 32 children in 2 age groups (mean ages 3 yrs 10 mo and 5 yrs 2 mo) were told 2 classes of stories. Ss were required to discriminate and explain the differing feelings of each story character. In Class 1 stories, cues for correct responses were located in the situation; in Class 2 stories, correct explanations required consideration of the characters' subjective characteristics. For discriminations, a significant age effect was found. For explanations, both significant age and task effects were found. Explanations requiring inferences about others, characteristics were more difficult for the younger children. An analysis of errors suggests that children who are unable to offer psychological explanations for Class 2 stories reconstruct the story to permit a situationally based response. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1979 American Psychological Association.