Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1995 Sep;31(5):838-850.
doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.31.5.838.

Understanding the Intentions of Others: Re-Enactment of Intended Acts by 18-Month-Old Children

Andrew N Meltzoff  1
Affiliations

Understanding the Intentions of Others: Re-Enactment of Intended Acts by 18-Month-Old Children

Andrew N Meltzoff. Dev Psychol. 1995 Sep.

Abstract

Investigated was whether children would re-enact what an adult actually did or what the adult intended to do. In Experiment 1 children were shown an adult who tried, but failed, to perform certain target acts. Completed target acts were thus not observed. Children in comparison groups either saw the full target act or appropriate controls. Results showed that children could infer the adult's intended act by watching the failed attempts. Experiment 2 tested children's understanding of an inanimate object that traced the same movements as the person had followed. Children showed a completely different reaction to the mechanical device than to the person: They did not produce the target acts in this case. Eighteen-month-olds situate people within a psychological framework that differentiates between the surface behavior of people and a deeper level involving goals and intentions. They have already adopted a fundamental aspect of folk psychology-persons (but not inanimate objects) are understood within a framework involving goals and intentions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The five test objects: (a) dumbbell, (b) box and stick tool, (c) prong and loop, (d) cylinder and beads, and (e) square and post.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Human demonstrator (top panel) and mechanical device mimicking these movements (bottom panel) used in Experiment 2. Time is represented by successive frames left to right.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Astington JW. Intention in the child’s theory of mind. In: Frye D, Moore C, editors. Children’s theories of mind: Mental states and social understanding. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum; 1991. pp. 157–172.
    1. Astington JW, Gopnik A. Developing understanding of desire and intention. In: Whiten A, editor. Natural theories of mind: Evolution, development and simulation of everyday mindreading. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell; 1991a. pp. 39–50.
    1. Astington JW, Gopnik A. Theoretical explanations of children’s understanding of the mind. British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 1991b;9:7–31.
    1. Bakeman R, Adamson LB. Coordinating attention to people and objects in mother-infant and peer-infant interaction. Child Development. 1984;55:1278–1289. - PubMed
    1. Baldwin DA, Moses LJ. Early understanding of referential intent and attentional focus: Evidence from language and emotion. In: Lewis C, Mitchell P, editors. Children’s early understanding of mind: Origins and development. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum; 1994. pp. 133–156.