| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
Fiscal Year 2009: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2008: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
|
|---|
| Research Abstract |
The activity of talking about a person who was absent (gossip) between infants (about 4 years (42-57 months) of age) was analyzed to investigate how they perceive others and the meaning of such information exchange. Understanding of the theory of mind (understanding that others have beliefs different from one's own) starts at 4 years old. It is surprising if they gossip before reaching 4 years of age, because gossip is beneficial for the listener only when the listener receives new information on someone he/she knows. Infants before acquiring the theory of mind behave on the assumption that others similarly know what they know. The following findings were observed: 1) Topics about others who were absent accounted for 4.8% of the conversation. 2) No monthly change was noted in the amount of gossip in a one-year period around 4 years of age. 3) There was no apparent gender difference. 4) On the investigation of whom they talked about, infants talked about someone they assumed the listener knows after 52 months (4 years and 4 months) of age, but, before this age, they talked about someone they assumed the listener didn't know or they did not specify the person. These findings indicate that they start to talk about persons absent at around 4 years of age, when they become able to talk fluently, although the amount of talking is small and does not increase with the development of language or perception, and they talk about the absent person indifferent to whether it has meaning to the listener. These results support the hypothesis proposed by Dunbar (1996) : humans have a natural character to exchange information concerning a third party through conversation. The findings were also valuable because it was indicated that the content of such talk became beneficial for the listener when they reached the developmental period acquiring the theory of mind, demonstrating the timing of its development through natural observation.
|
