ABSTRACT

Children’s storybooks often contain fantasy elements, from dragons and wizards to anthropomorphic animals that wear clothes, talk, and behave like humans. These elements can impact children’s learning from storybooks both positively and negatively, perhaps due in part to their ability to capture children’s interest and attention. Prior research has found that children prefer realistic to make-believe stories, but little is known about children’s preferences for anthropomorphic characters. The present study examines U.S. children’s preferences for fantasy and anthropomorphism in storybooks. Seventy-two 4- to 6-year-old children (M = 65.74 months, SD = 10.84 months) were presented with 10 pairs of books (fantasy/anthropomorphic vs. realistic) and asked to select which book they liked better and why. Children chose fantasy but not anthropomorphic animal stories significantly more often than expected by chance. Children’s preferences were not related to age or gender, and they most often justified their choices with references to the storyline. Implications for creating and selecting media are discussed, since children learn best when learning materials align with their interests.

摘要

儿童故事书通常包含奇幻元素，从龙和巫师到穿衣服、说话和举止像人类的拟人化动物。这些元素会对儿童从故事书中的学习产生积极和消极的影响，部分原因可能是它们能够吸引儿童的兴趣和注意力。先前的研究发现，与虚构的故事相比，儿童更喜欢写实的故事，但关于儿童对拟人化角色的偏好知之甚少。本研究调查了美国儿童对故事书中幻想和拟人化的偏好。72 名 4 至 6 岁儿童（M = 65.74 个月，SD = 10.84 个月）向他们展示了 10 对书籍（幻想/拟人化与现实主义）并要求他们选择他们更喜欢哪本书以及为什么。孩子们选择幻想而非拟人化动物故事的频率明显高于偶然预期。孩子们的偏好与年龄或性别无关，他们通常会参考故事情节来证明自己的选择是合理的。讨论了创建和选择媒体的意义，因为当学习材料符合他们的兴趣时，孩子们学得最好。