C HARACTERIZING C HARACTERS : C HILDREN ’ S S OCIAL C OGNITIVE R EASONING ABOUT F ICTIONAL C HARACTERS D ISCUSSION J ACQUELINE D. WOOLLEY T HE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

S CHLESINGER & R ICHERT Children attributed more biological than physical characteristics to the TV character. Children were more likely to ask Sid (vs. other characters) for information. Trust was related to both transfer and memory.

S ACHET & TAYLOR Controlling for general empathy, children attempted to include the excluded real person more than the excluded fictional person (and the wall). Empathy levels were equivalent for the excluded real and cartoon characters.

G OLDSTEIN & BLOOM Three- and 4-year-olds claimed that characters (both those who were acting and those who were “pretending”) were both really experiencing the feelings they portrayed. Five-year-olds were starting to differentiate acting and pretending. Adults never thought the actors or the pretenders were experiencing the emotions or states. When paired, children choose the unrealistic actor as the one experiencing the emotion.

G ENERAL COMMENTS / QUESTIONS Harris’s model of the distinction between ontological evaluation and appraisal Ontological evaluation (real, fictional) ^ | Event  Appraisal  Emotion

I NDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Executive function TV exposure/experience Trust Theory of mind Role play Anthropomorphism Prosocial behavior Empathy Age Concept of video or TV Ability to evaluate the knowledge level of the fictional character

OTHERS Appearance/Reality Distinction Dual representation / Understanding of representation

W HAT ASPECTS OF TV AFFECT LEARNING ? Content: Words vs. behaviors vs. social/moral lessons Busyness Repetition Familiarity Social meaningfulness of characters Social contingency /Presence of reciprocal interaction Motivation Engagement Re: video, whether the child has seen herself on video