LAY THEORIES OF CHILD-DEVELOPMENT

Over 200 respondents from a variety of backgrounds completed a 64-item questionnaire on which they estimated the age at which most normal, h ealthy children can complete a variety of tasks. These results were co mpared with the norms available from tests and textbooks. Overall, the respondents underestimated the age at which older children (9-15 year s old) can successfully perform tasks and overestimated the age at whi ch younger children (2-4 years old) can perform tasks. There were vari ous significant correlates of these estimations, particularly gender, age, and whether the respondents had children of their own. Results ar e discussed in terms of the literature on lay theories of child develo pment.