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The Influence of Story Character Realism and Theme on Protagonists’ Internal States and Dialogue in Children’s Retells.  

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The Influence of Story Character Realism and Theme on Protagonists’ Internal States and Dialogue in Children’s Retells.  . / Russell, Samantha J; Wang, Jessica; Cain, Kate.
In: Cognitive Development, 19.05.2024.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

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@article{5f5bf7ed1dc44667982e2aab2856121f,
title = "The Influence of Story Character Realism and Theme on Protagonists{\textquoteright} Internal States and Dialogue in Children{\textquoteright}s Retells.  ",
abstract = "Anthropomorphized animals are a prevalent character type in children{\textquoteright}s books. However, stories with fantastical protagonists are associated with poorer social learning than those with human protagonists. We explored whether children{\textquoteright}s representations of characters{\textquoteright} internal states and dialogue in story retells were related to story character realism (anthropomorphized animal, human), story theme (sharing, busyness), age, and vocabulary. Three- to seven-year-olds (N = 171) listened to one of four versions of an illustrated storybook that manipulated character realism and theme. Developmental trends were evident: Older children included more internal state references and dialogue in their retells than younger children. Of note, children retelling a prosocial story with human protagonists included more socio-relational language than those retelling a busy-themed story featuring humans; the same advantage was not evident for stories with animal protagonists. These findings imply that realistic protagonists may elicit more robust representations of social ideas in the minds of young children. ",
keywords = "Anthropomorphism, Children's stories, Retells, Internal states, Dialogue, Moral development",
author = "Russell, {Samantha J} and Jessica Wang and Kate Cain",
year = "2024",
month = may,
day = "19",
language = "English",
journal = "Cognitive Development",
issn = "0885-2014",
publisher = "Elsevier Limited",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Influence of Story Character Realism and Theme on Protagonists’ Internal States and Dialogue in Children’s Retells.  

AU - Russell, Samantha J

AU - Wang, Jessica

AU - Cain, Kate

PY - 2024/5/19

Y1 - 2024/5/19

N2 - Anthropomorphized animals are a prevalent character type in children’s books. However, stories with fantastical protagonists are associated with poorer social learning than those with human protagonists. We explored whether children’s representations of characters’ internal states and dialogue in story retells were related to story character realism (anthropomorphized animal, human), story theme (sharing, busyness), age, and vocabulary. Three- to seven-year-olds (N = 171) listened to one of four versions of an illustrated storybook that manipulated character realism and theme. Developmental trends were evident: Older children included more internal state references and dialogue in their retells than younger children. Of note, children retelling a prosocial story with human protagonists included more socio-relational language than those retelling a busy-themed story featuring humans; the same advantage was not evident for stories with animal protagonists. These findings imply that realistic protagonists may elicit more robust representations of social ideas in the minds of young children.

AB - Anthropomorphized animals are a prevalent character type in children’s books. However, stories with fantastical protagonists are associated with poorer social learning than those with human protagonists. We explored whether children’s representations of characters’ internal states and dialogue in story retells were related to story character realism (anthropomorphized animal, human), story theme (sharing, busyness), age, and vocabulary. Three- to seven-year-olds (N = 171) listened to one of four versions of an illustrated storybook that manipulated character realism and theme. Developmental trends were evident: Older children included more internal state references and dialogue in their retells than younger children. Of note, children retelling a prosocial story with human protagonists included more socio-relational language than those retelling a busy-themed story featuring humans; the same advantage was not evident for stories with animal protagonists. These findings imply that realistic protagonists may elicit more robust representations of social ideas in the minds of young children.

KW - Anthropomorphism

KW - Children's stories

KW - Retells

KW - Internal states

KW - Dialogue

KW - Moral development

M3 - Journal article

JO - Cognitive Development

JF - Cognitive Development

SN - 0885-2014

ER -