Video reminders in a representational change task: Memory for cues but notbeliefs or statements

Two experiments investigated the effect of video reminders on 3-year-olds' performance in a representational change task. In Experiment 1, children in a video support condition viewed videotapes of their initial incorrect sta tements about a misleading container Drier to being asked to report their i nitial belief. Children in a control condition viewed an irrelevant videota pe. Despite reporting what they had said on the videotape, children in the video support condition typically failed the representational change task. Experiment 2 replicated the main findings From Experiment 1 and also reveal ed that a video reminder failed to increase the likelihood that children wo uld correctly report what they had said about the object. Results are discu ssed in terms of the processes whereby mnemonic cues might affect performan ce on tasks assessing theory of mind. (C) 2001 by Academic Press.