The inheritance of desired characteristics: Children's view of the role ofintention in parent-offspring resemblance

Two studies examined children's beliefs about maternal intention as a mecha nism for trait inheritance. In Study 1, 42 preschool-aged (4 to 5 years old ) children and 81 adults were shown pictures of adult women (mothers) and w ere asked to identify their daughters. In the critical condition participan ts were asked to choose between a girl who shared an attribute with the mot her and a girl who had the attribute desired by the mother. Trait types inc luded physically heritable traits, nonheritable traits, and beliefs. Result s from this study suggest that preschoolers do believe that maternal intent ion plays a role in the inheritance of physical traits. Study 2 was designe d to determine whether preschoolers recognize limits on both the efficacy a nd the timing of maternal intention. Results suggest that children see some properties as outside of maternal control. Further, they do seem to see ma ternal intentions as operating prior to birth. One finding of these studies is that preschoolers may not have strong intuitions that offspring will re semble their parents. In addition, children seem to have different intuitio ns about the mechanisms of inheritance than do adults. (C) 1999 Academic Pr ess.