Children ' s Reasoning about Socia 1 , Physica 1 , and Logical Regularities : A Look at Two Worlds Lloyd

KOMATSU, LLOYD K., and GAL0-ni, KATHLEEN M. Children's Reasoning about Socia1, Physica1, and Logical Regularities: A Look at Two Worlds. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1986, 57, 413-420. In 2 studies, 6-, 8-, and 10-year-0ld children were interviewed about 3 different types of regularities or rules social conventions, physical laws, and logical necessities. In the first study, children were asked if regularities could be changed (by consensus) and/or be different in another world. In the second study, children were asked if regularities could be different in another country (on Earth) or on a different planet. Results showed that social regularities were distinguished from the other types, but physical and logical regularities were treated similarly. While the evidence for age differences was equivoca1, it was clear that even Rrst graders did not judge physical items as alterable on Earth. This fails to replicate a previously reported Ending that children pass through a stage where all items are seen as alterable. Finally, a sex difference emerged, with boys more willing to judge physical and logical regularities to be alterable in another world.