Introduction
The question that researchers are trying to answer is what role children’s understanding of physical possibility play in their belief of Santa Claus. The article talks about how the belief in Santa comes from adults telling children that he exists and children accepting it to be fact despite the physical impossibility of him. Much of our knowledge is transferred to us through testimony. If an expert tells us about gravity, we believe them because we trust that the experts are telling us the truth.
The article says that many studies have been done on the source of this testimony but not many examine the content of those testimonies. Some people who are trustworthy like parents or grandparents, may tell children false information and people who are untrustworthy like strangers may tell children true information. This is why the example of Santa is an important one. Everyone across the board generally tells children that Santa is real and because of this, they begin to believe it despite the physical impossibility.
As the children get older, they start to abandon their belief in Santa. The article says that some say that children stop believing in Santa because they start to receive different …show more content…
The ages ranged from 3.8 to 9.8. The children in this study were asked to complete three tasks that included writing a letter, answering questions about Santa, and asking children to explain what they thought about extraordinary events not related to Santa. The tasks were completed in that order so the researchers could be sure that the Santa based tasks would not influence the possibility questions. The children were asked two questions before the experiment started to asses if they knew who Santa was and whether they believed in him. They were asked Who Santa was and where he lived. Four children stated they did not know who he was and were not included in the
The question that researchers are trying to answer is what role children’s understanding of physical possibility play in their belief of Santa Claus. The article talks about how the belief in Santa comes from adults telling children that he exists and children accepting it to be fact despite the physical impossibility of him. Much of our knowledge is transferred to us through testimony. If an expert tells us about gravity, we believe them because we trust that the experts are telling us the truth.
The article says that many studies have been done on the source of this testimony but not many examine the content of those testimonies. Some people who are trustworthy like parents or grandparents, may tell children false information and people who are untrustworthy like strangers may tell children true information. This is why the example of Santa is an important one. Everyone across the board generally tells children that Santa is real and because of this, they begin to believe it despite the physical impossibility.
As the children get older, they start to abandon their belief in Santa. The article says that some say that children stop believing in Santa because they start to receive different …show more content…
The ages ranged from 3.8 to 9.8. The children in this study were asked to complete three tasks that included writing a letter, answering questions about Santa, and asking children to explain what they thought about extraordinary events not related to Santa. The tasks were completed in that order so the researchers could be sure that the Santa based tasks would not influence the possibility questions. The children were asked two questions before the experiment started to asses if they knew who Santa was and whether they believed in him. They were asked Who Santa was and where he lived. Four children stated they did not know who he was and were not included in the