The Cognitive Representation of Fantasy Versus Pretense
Location
Slavin Center
Start Date
25-4-2012 12:00 AM
End Date
25-4-2012 12:00 AM
Description
Do our minds process fantasy, pretense, and reality differently? Participants read fantastical (Snow White eating an apple), pretend (a girl pretending to be Snow White), or realistic (a girl eating an apple) vignettes. Participants’ reaction to a property of each vignette’s realistic context (apple as ‘delicious’) or its unrealistic context (apple as ‘poisonous’) was measured by a computer program. Differences in study 1 reaction time indicate that fantasy may require different mental representation than pretense and reality. Differences in study 2 fail to duplicate results from the fantasy condition in study 1, instead finding differences in mental representation after reading pretend vignettes. Trends in both study 1 and 2 indicate possible influences of fantasy and pretense on realistic thought.
The Cognitive Representation of Fantasy Versus Pretense
Slavin Center
Do our minds process fantasy, pretense, and reality differently? Participants read fantastical (Snow White eating an apple), pretend (a girl pretending to be Snow White), or realistic (a girl eating an apple) vignettes. Participants’ reaction to a property of each vignette’s realistic context (apple as ‘delicious’) or its unrealistic context (apple as ‘poisonous’) was measured by a computer program. Differences in study 1 reaction time indicate that fantasy may require different mental representation than pretense and reality. Differences in study 2 fail to duplicate results from the fantasy condition in study 1, instead finding differences in mental representation after reading pretend vignettes. Trends in both study 1 and 2 indicate possible influences of fantasy and pretense on realistic thought.
