Parents Produce Explicit Cues That Help Toddlers Distinguish Joking and Pretending

Abstract

While separate pieces of research found parents offer toddlers cues to express that they are (1) joking and (2) pretending, and that toddlers and preschoolers understand intentions to (1) joke and (2) pretend, it is not yet clear whether parents and toddlers consider joking and pretending to be distinct concepts. This is important as distinguishing these two forms of non‐literal acts could open a gateway to understanding the complexities of the non‐literal world, as well as the complexities of intentions in general. Two studies found parents offer explicit cues to help 16‐ to 24‐month‐olds distinguish pretending and joking. Across an action play study (n = 25) and a verbal play study (n = 40) parents showed more disbelief and less belief through their actions and language when joking versus pretending. Similarly, toddlers showed less belief through their actions, and older toddlers showed less belief through their language. Toddlers' disbelief could be accounted for by their response to parents' language and actions. Thus, these studies reveal a mechanism by which toddlers learn to distinguish joking and pretending. Parents offer explicit cues to distinguish these intentions, and toddlers use these cues to guide their own behaviors, which in turn allows toddlers to distinguish these intentional contexts.

Two‐Year‐Olds Distinguish Pretending and Joking

“…In contrast, joking, at its most basic, need only be wrong (Hoicka & Gattis, ). These data also converge with naturalistic data demonstrating that both parents and toddlers show more belief in pretense versus joking, even though both are technically wrong (Hoicka & Butcher, ).…”

“…We chose a naturalistic design, where both experimenters provided cues that they were pretending (e.g., saying, “I'm pretending …,” sound effects) or joking (e.g., saying “I'm joking …,” laughter), to give children the best possible chance of making this distinction. We also tested a separate group of children on a less naturalistic design where no cues were given (because parents generally do give cues that they are joking or pretending, Hoicka & Butcher, ; Hoicka & Gattis, ; Hoicka et al., ; Lillard et al., ; Lillard & Witherington, ; Mireault et al., ; Reissland & Snow, ) to determine whether children responded to the actions only or the intentions in relation to the action (signaled by cues). If only actions are important, we would expect the same results across both conditions with and without cues.…”

“…Additionally, recent research suggests 16‐ to 24‐month‐olds distinguish when their parents pretend or joke (Hoicka & Butcher, ). Across two studies, parents acted out specific joke and pretend acts for their toddlers.…”

Social Facilitation of Laughter and Smiles in Preschool Children

“…They have shown that infants and preschoolers can understand and produce humor ( Hoicka and Gattis, 2008 ; Hoicka and Akhtar, 2012 ). They have also shown that preschoolers can tell jokes from pretending, and apply contextual cues to understand humor ( Hoicka and Akhtar, 2011 ; Hoicka and Butcher, 2016 ). However, the primarily social aspect of laughter and smiles found in the present study does not diminish preschoolers’ appreciation and understanding of humor ( Hoicka and Akhtar, 2012 ; Hoicka and Butcher, 2016 ) The children in the present study found the cartoons funny in all viewing conditions but their laughter and smiles were strongly modulated by social setting.…”

The evolutionary significance of pretend play: Two-year-olds’ interpretation of behavioral cues

“…Human adults also appear to produce behavioral cues to signal pretense to young children. Empirical research has demonstrated that, in both Western and Eastern cultures, mothers alter their behaviors in predictable ways when pretending, relative to when they engage in the same activities for real (Hoicka & Butcher, 2015;Lillard et al, 2007;Lillard & Witherington, 2004;Nakamichi, 2015). For example, when asked to pretend to eat in front of their toddlers, mothers moved faster, produced sound effects, engaged in exaggerated smiles, and had more variations in pitch when speaking.…”