TY - UNPB
T1 - Puppets as symbols in early development
T2 - From whether to how in the Theory of Puppets debate
AU - Revencu, Barbu
AU - Csibra, Gergely
PY - 2020/12/10
Y1 - 2020/12/10
N2 - The use of animations and puppet shows in developmental research has recently been questioned on external validity grounds. Do infants and children interpret symbolic stimuli (e.g., animated shapes, wooden circles) as required for a given measure of interest (e.g., as agents)? We review the arguments on both sides and conclude that external validity is not under threat by the mere use of symbolic stimuli. At the same time, the debate in its current formulation runs the risk of masking an important theoretical question: how do infants, children, and adults interpret such stimuli? We present the standard answer to the how-question (symbolic stimuli satisfy the input conditions of the cognitive domain under investigation) and contrast it with the under-explored possibility that these stimuli are interpreted the same way they have been generated (i.e., as representations).
AB - The use of animations and puppet shows in developmental research has recently been questioned on external validity grounds. Do infants and children interpret symbolic stimuli (e.g., animated shapes, wooden circles) as required for a given measure of interest (e.g., as agents)? We review the arguments on both sides and conclude that external validity is not under threat by the mere use of symbolic stimuli. At the same time, the debate in its current formulation runs the risk of masking an important theoretical question: how do infants, children, and adults interpret such stimuli? We present the standard answer to the how-question (symbolic stimuli satisfy the input conditions of the cognitive domain under investigation) and contrast it with the under-explored possibility that these stimuli are interpreted the same way they have been generated (i.e., as representations).
UR - https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/u3em8
U2 - 10.31234/osf.io/u3em8
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/u3em8
M3 - Preprint
SP - 1
EP - 15
BT - Puppets as symbols in early development
PB - PsyArXiv Preprints
ER -