Cognizing the Behavior Stream: The Recognition of Intentional Action.

SMrrH, MICHAEL C. Cognizing the Behavior Stream: The Recognition of Intentional Action. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1978, 49, 736-743. 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old children and adults were asked to judge each of a series of videotaped actions intentional or unintentional. The series included voluntary acts with both intended and unintended effects, involuntary acts, and "objectlike" movements. The 4-year-olds tended to judge all the actions as intentional, though this tendency was not as strong for the object-like movements as for the voluntary and involuntary acts. The 5-year-olds tended to judge only the voluntary acts as intentional; they also distinguished between intended and unintended effects, but not in the same way the 6-year-olds and adults did. The 6-year-olds and adults tended to judge only the voluntary acts as intentional and distinguished between intended and unintended effects by using relevant evidence in a fairly complicated way. The complex achievement which the cognition of intentional action and of the entire behavior stream represents was discussed.