Development of the ability to distinguish intended actions from mistakes, reflexes, and passive movements

Two experiments were conducted on the child's developing ability to distinguish intended actions from mistakes, reflexes, and passive movements. Such distinctions were successfully made by 3–5 years of age, regardless of whether children were judging their own or another's familiar or unfamiliar behaviour. Responses to causal questions indicated that children as young as 3 years attributed behaviours to intentional states in accordance with the scheme for multiple sufficient causes.