The Ghost in My Body: Children’s Developing Concept of the Soul*

Two experiments were conducted to explore whether children, who have been exposed to the concept of the soul, differentiate the soul from the mind. In the first experiment, 4to 12-year-old children were asked about whether a religious ritual affects the mind, the brain, or the soul. The majority of the children claimed that only the soul was different after baptism. In a follow-up study, 6to 12-year-old children were tested more explicitly on what factors differentiate the soul from the mind and the brain. Children differentiated the soul from the mind and the brain along two dimensions: function and stability. In contrast to their responses about the mind and the brain, children did not claim that the soul was important for cognitive, non-cognitive, or biological functioning. Children consistently indicated that the mind and the brain change and grow over time. In contrast, children indicated that the soul is something that stays constant and is devoted to various, predominantly spiritual, functions. By seven years of age, children demonstrate a fairly solid understanding of the role that the mind and the brain play in identity. For example, if told a story about a child’s brain that is transplanted into the * Acknowledgements: The funding for the research reported in this paper was provided by a National Science Foundation International Post-doctoral Research Fellowship (INT-0301330) to the first author. The authors would like to thank the pastors, parents, and children at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Birmingham, MI and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Arlington, MA, as well as the teachers and children at St. Anthony’s School in Somerville, MA and St. Mary of the Assumption School in Brookline, MA for their participation in this research. Correspondence may be sent to Rebekah Richert, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521. Email: [email protected]. ** University of California, Riverside. *** Harvard University. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2006 Journal of Cognition and Culture 6.3-4 JOCC_6.3-4_f4-408-427 9/20/06 12:19 PM Page 409