ABSTRACT
When do children understand what about the mind—about the mental lives of persons and about such mental states as thoughts, dreams, wishes, and desires? This question has been much researched over the past few years and our picture of young children’s understanding has been transformed and clarified by that research. In contrast to earlier characterisation (e.g. Piaget, 1929), it is now clear that probably by three and certainly by four years of age most children understand that people’s external actions are in part the products of their internal intentions, ideas, emotions, and goals (see such volumes as Astington, Harris, & Olson, 1988; Butterworth, Harris, Leslie, & Wellman 1991; Frye & Moore, 1991; Whiten, 1991). One way to characterise this naive psychological understanding of preschoolers, older children, and adults, is to describe it as roughly a belief-desire mentalism (see, e.g. D'Andrade, 1987; Wellman, 1990). The basic idea is that we see persons as engaging in certain actions, exploits, or deeds because they desire certain things and believe some act will help achieve that desire. Or, people experience certain feelings and express certain reactions because their beliefs and desires have been satisfied or undermined in various ways.
