And in such cases children still show accuracy on the properties and limits on the content of supernatural minds, suggesting a nuanced understanding of what such figures can and cannot know. Even when children are incorrect, it is often due to systematic cultural factors rather than their own idiosyncrasies or cognitive abilities. By the age of three children can distinguish between veridical, imagined, and pretend entities and between superficial and actual features of objects. Д¬hildrenвЂ™s understanding of the real and unreal tends to be largely nuanced and accurate. All our data and materials are publically available at. We advance the argument that cultural rituals are a special form of testimony that influences childrenвЂ™s reality/fantasy distinctions, and that rituals and norms for вЂCultural FiguresвЂ™ are a powerful and under-researched factor in generating and sustaining a childвЂ™s endorsement for a figureвЂ™s reality status. A cluster analysis, based exclusively on childrenвЂ™s вЂrealnessвЂ™ scores, revealed a structure supporting our hypotheses, and multilevel regressions revealed a sensible hierarchy of endorsement with differing developmental trajectories for each category of figures.

In total, we analysed responses from 176 children (aged 2вЂ“11 years) and 56 adults for вЂhow realвЂ™ they believed 13 individual figures were (95 children were examined online by their parents, and 81 children were examined by trained research assistants). We anticipated that the categories would be endorsed in the following order: вЂReal PeopleвЂ™ ( a person known to the child, The Wiggles), вЂCultural FiguresвЂ™ ( Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy), вЂAmbiguous FiguresвЂ™ ( Dinosaurs, Aliens), вЂMythical FiguresвЂ™ ( unicorns, ghosts, dragons), and вЂFictional FiguresвЂ™ ( Spongebob Squarepants, Princess Elsa, Peter Pan). To what extent do children believe in real, unreal, natural and supernatural figures relative to each other, and to what extent are features of culture responsible for belief? Are some figures, like Santa Claus or an alien, perceived as more real than figures like Princess Elsa or a unicorn? We categorized 13 figures into five a priori categories based on 1) whether children receive direct evidence of the figureвЂ™s existence, 2) whether children receive indirect evidence of the figureвЂ™s existence, 3) whether the figure was associated with culture-specific rituals or norms, and 4) whether the figure was explicitly presented as fictional.

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