Personality Across Development Lab Tackett Lab Department of Psychology 100 St. George Street Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3 Canada To: Moreover, the act of trying to understand the behavior of characters in terms of the mental states One study we completed that drive these actions, over the past year in could help them come to collaboration with colleagues at York University understand real people in a similar way. We and Dalhousie University was aimed at examining the examined all sorts of different media, including relationship between children's development and books, television shows, and movies. media exposure. FICTION EXPOSURE STUDY In this study, we were primarily interested in a child’s ability to reason about other people’s minds, their capacity to understand that other people have thoughts, feelings, and beliefs just like their own. This ability typically develops between the ages What we found was that of 4 and 6. after controlling for numerous other factors, Our hypothesis was that the amount of exposure to exposure to different types children’s storybooks of narrative media might predicted better ability to influence children's ability to think about others’ mental understand the mental states. This was also true of states and emotions of movies, but not television. others. For example, reading A manuscript regarding about a character’s beliefs (or differing beliefs between these interesting study results is currently under characters) in a storybook review at the journal of can help teach children Developmental Science. about beliefs in others. CHILD PERSONALITY & BEHAVIOURAL OUTCOMES STUDY For the follow up to the CBPS we are asking parents to fill out some questionnaires about their In the Child Personality and child’s personality and Behavioural Outcomes events that have occurred Study (CPBS) we are since your visit to the PAD. studying how individual differences in personality DELAY OF traits are related to GRATIFICATION behaviour in middle PROJECT childhood. Through a combination of The Delay of Gratification questionnaires, interviews, project is seeking to validate a measure of the and interactive activities kind of decisions children we are able to study how make and how that is children’s personalities related to their influence their thoughts, feelings, and interpersonal personality. relationships. It is a short, approximately Thanks to all of the families 30‐minute fun and interactive protocol who have already visited consisting of story reading the PAD lab we are more and various number than halfway to completing games. our first round of testing!
We are looking for participants in various CPBS FOLLOW UP youth groups of children 8‐
11 years. If you know of At the one year any such groups who may anniversary of your first visit to the PAD lab we will be interested in being also be contacting families contacted, please let us know! Your help is very for a follow‐up. valuable and always much appreciated.