How tactile and function information affect young childrenʹs ability to understand the nature of food-appearing, deceptive objects

Preschool childrenʹs (N = 64) ability to use tactile information and function cues on less-realistic and more-realistic food-appearing, deceptive objects was examined before and after training on the function of deceptive objects. They also responded to appearance and reality questions about deceptive objects. Half of the children (F-S: functional–salience condition) responded to function questions and were given feedback on their responses; half (control) responded to task questions but not function questions and feedback was not provided. After a Treatment Phase, children were asked about other deceptive objects. Four year olds answered more task questions correctly than 3 year olds; when children had access to tactile information they were better at answering task questions. Children in the F-S condition performed better on function Posttreatment questions, as compared to the Pretreatment Phase, and only the 4 year olds performed better on the less-realistic objects than the more-realistic objects. The degree of realism of deceptive objects does have an impact on the level of understanding of four year olds. The results also indicate that adults can provide tactile and function experiences to help young children better understand that these food-appearing objects are not edible.