Intentiebegrip in de vroege kindertijd: Een onderzoek naar interpretatie van intenties bij kinderen van 3 tot en met 7 jaar

Abstract

The current study was aimed at gaining insights in the development of behavioral attributions, which is the understanding to differentiate between outcome and intention, between the ages 3-7 years. Thereby, Dodge’s theory (2006) was tested. Dodge hypothesizes that 3 year olds use outcome information to interpret intentions while 7 year olds use intention information. Participants were presented vignettes in which the intention and outcome could be positively or negatively manipulated. Results showed that there is an age-related decrease in using outcome information and an increase in using intention information when interpreting behavior when the child gets older. The findings in this study partially supports Dodge’s theory. Implications of this are discussed.