EXPLORING THE RELATION BETWEEN PRESCHOOL CHILDRENS MAGICAL BELIEFS AND CAUSAL THINKING

Three studies are presented which examine the degree to which children engage in magical thinking. We suggest that this is not a monolithic question that can be answered by a simple 'yes' or 'no', but involves a number of different facets, including parental input, children's spo ntaneous beliefs and children's responses to magical events. Conceptio ns about children's beliefs in magical and fantasy figures were assess ed by means of a parent survey. Parents reported that children believe in the reality of a number of fantasy figures and that parents encour age these beliefs to some degree. In Study 2, 4- and 5-year-old childr en made a clear distinction between possible and impossible transforma tions of animals and did not invoke magical means to produce any outco me. In Study 3 children were asked if a magician could cause certain a nimal transformations. Here, the 4- and 5-year-olds made no distinctio n between possible and impossible events, reporting that for a magicia n none of these events was impossible. Few children said that magician s used trickery, instead suggesting that 'real' magic was involved. Ta ken together these studies suggest that children hold a belief in magi c, but not an overwhelming 'magical' orientation.