Level 1 perspective-taking at 24 months of age

The current study sought to determine the age at which children first engage in Level 1 visual perspective-taking, in which they understand that the content of what another person sees in a situation may sometimes differ from what they see. An adult entered the room searching for an object. One candidate object was out in the open, whereas another was visible for the child but behind an occluder from the adult's perspective. When asked to help the adult find the sought-for object, 24-month-old children, but not 18-month-old children, handed him the occluded object (whereas in a control condition they showed no preference for the occluded toy). We argue that the performance of the 24-month-olds requires Level 1 visual perspective-taking skills and that this is the youngest age at which these skills have been demonstrated.

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