Young Children's Knowledge about Thinking

What do pre-schoolers know about thinking? How do they develop from the notion that ideas indeed pop into their heads to the true introspection that can be seen in later childhood? Using 14 case studies of differentiation, situations and introspection, this book explores these issues. The contributors find that pre-schoolers may regard thoughts as mysterious, isolated mental events; in general, a young child has difficulty determining both when a person (either self or other) is thinking and what the person is thinking about, even if given clear clues. The implications of this limited understanding of thinking and some of the factors that influence the development of this understanding should be of interest to child development specialists and cognitive scientists in general.