The form and function of young children's magical beliefs.

Research and common lore suggest that children subscribe to a rich world of fantasy, including beliefs about magical entities and events. This study explores how children use magic to explain events they witness in the real world. 16 children (aged 4, 6, and 8 yrs) were asked a set of interview questions designed to assess general magical beliefs. They were then presented with physical events and were asked to predict and explain their occurrence and to state whether they believed the events were magical. The extent of Ss' magical beliefs, as measured by the interview, decreased with age. Regarding explanations of events, the availability of correct physical explanations for the events accounted for a significant portion of the variance in Ss' claims that the events were magic. Findings suggest that magic is used by children as an explanatory tool when they encounter events that both violate their expectations and elude adequate physical explanation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)