The Development of Children's Understanding of False Belief and the Appearance‐Reality Distinction

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Abstract
Recent research has shown parallels between the development of young children's understanding of false belief and their understanding of the appearance‐reality distinction. First, both develop between 3 and 4–5 years of age and develop concurrently in individual children. Second, the younger children's difficulties with both concepts seem genuine and deep‐seated. Finally, these difficulties are general, in the sense of being evident in a variety of types of beliefs and appearances. Most researchers in this area believe that these developments are mediated by an emerging representational conception of the mind.