We know that children understand that others make statements to manipulate what others think about them (make them think they are nice, smart, etc.). This study extends previous work with 5- to 11-year-olds, asking children to describe themselves for the experimenter. The children then will learn a new game, and will be told that they should describe themselves in a way to encourage someone from another school to choose them as a partner for the game. We wish to see if children will modify their self-descriptions depending on if they know their audience wants a partner who is nice or who will help them win, and at what age they will begin to change the way they describe themselves.
Research will be conducted by Philippa Day and is supervised by Dr. Dawn Watling