Dolls, Not Tablets, Show Greater Gains in Teaching Perspective-Taking

A randomized six-week trial by Cardiff University found children ages 4–8 who played with dolls showed larger improvements in false-belief understanding than peers who played open-ended tablet games.

New research reports that playing with dolls may better support young children's development of perspective-taking than open-ended tablet play. Researchers at Cardiff University ran a randomized trial in South Wales over six weeks with children ages 4–8. The study measured changes in false-belief understanding, a cognitive skill tied to recognizing that others can hold mistaken beliefs. Results showed different social patterns of play between the doll and tablet groups. Key findings: - The trial included 81 children (average age 6) who were randomly assigned to play with dolls or to use digital tablets with creative, open-ended games. - Parents kept diaries of play sessions, which the research team used to document duration and social context of play. - Changes in false-belief understanding were measured with the Sandbox Task; the doll group showed stronger improvement in this ability. - Children who played with dolls more often involved friends, siblings or parents and attributed wants, beliefs or feelings to the dolls. - Children in the tablet group mostly played alone during the study period. - Study authors noted that dolls may encourage social interaction and practice of social-processing skills, but they said the mechanism requires further investigation and that the findings are not an indictment of technology. Summary: The trial found an association between doll play and greater gains in false-belief understanding, a component of early social cognition. Researchers emphasized that the underlying mechanism is unclear and that different types of play may support different learning outcomes. Undetermined at this time.