Year 2, Day 297: Christmas

December 23, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Do You Believe in Surnits?

By JACQUELINE WOOLLEY
Austin, Tex.

WE delight in our children’s belief in reindeer that can fly and a fat man who fits through chimneys and travels the whole world in a single night. Many children believe fiercely not only in Santa Claus but also in other fantastical beings like the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy from the time they are about 3 until they are 7 or 8.

Their eager belief contributes to the common view, shared by psychologists and other scientists, that young children are credulous (and conversely, that adults are not). Children believe everything they are told, we assume, with little regard for logic, a sense of the real world or any of the other criteria adults use to debunk such fictions as the Loch Ness monster or Sasquatch.

But are children really that different from us? A study that my colleagues and I conducted at the Children’s Research Laboratory at the University of Texas suggests not. We found that, in fact, children use many of the same cues adults use to distinguish fantasy from reality.

Our experiment was designed to investigate how a young child, upon encountering a fantastical being like a unicorn in a storybook, decides whether it is real or imaginary. Adults often make the call based on context. If, for example, we encounter a weird and unfamiliar insect at a science museum, we are more likely to think it is something real than if we find it in a joke store.

To see if children could also use context in this way, we described “surnits” and other made-up things to our study group. To some of the children, we put surnits in a fantastical context: “Ghosts try to catch surnits when they fly around at night.” To others, we characterized them in scientific terms: “Doctors use surnits to help them in the hospital.”

The 4- to 6-year-olds who heard the medical description were much more likely to think surnits were real than children who were told they had something to do with ghosts. The children demonstrated that they do not indiscriminately believe everything they’re told, but use some pretty high-level tools to distinguish between fantasy and reality.

If children are so smart, why do they believe in Santa Claus? My view is that they are exhibiting their very rational and scientific cognitive abilities. The adults they count on to provide reliable information about the world introduce them to Santa. Then his existence is affirmed by friends, books, TV and movies. It is also validated by hard evidence: the half-eaten cookies and empty milk glasses by the tree on Christmas morning.

In other words, children do a great job of scientifically evaluating Santa. And adults do a great job of duping them. As we gradually withdraw our support for the myth, and children piece together the truth, their view of Santa aligns with ours. Perhaps it is this kinship with the adult world that prevents children from feeling anger over having been misled.

So maybe this holiday season, when the children come rushing in to see what Santa brought, we should revel not in their wide-eyed wonder, but in how sophisticated and clever their young minds really are.

Jacqueline Woolley is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.


Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company


Breakfast
2 Soft-Boiled Eggs
2 Slices Balthazar Multi-Grain Bread
(1 with Super Chunky Peanut Butter)
3 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar

Lunch
Blue Ribbon Burnt Ends & Pulled Chicken
Bubbie's Pickles
Romaine/Cabbage/Feta salad with balsamic vinegar

Movie Snack
Popcorn

Dinner
Turkey
Onions/Celery/Carrots
Broccoli
Green Beans

Again, it was an adventuresome day, as Ruby and I went to see Charlotte's Web and I ventured to cook my own turkey for the VERY FIRST TIME. In all fairness, it was only the double-breast, no drumsticks or anything, it's a pretty scaled down thing. I got it at whole foods and it was about 5 pounds. I got a roasting pan and I sort of winged it. I was a little worried about the whole meat-thermometer, but it came with one (which popped up an hour before the recipe said it would be done) but it all worked out. I had seen on the Food TV Channel show "Unwrapped" where a turkey restaurant said the two key things to cooking your turkey was: cook it upside down for the majority of the time—only turn it over (breast side up) at the end to brown the skin; and two, cook it in less time than is listed. Though I didn't follow these rules closely, I can see where they might make a big difference. Surprisingly, everyone had turkey and liked it. I fortunately did not eat any of the Reese's Bites I got for Ruby at the movies, and when I got home, I wrapped up the chocolate chip cookie dough I had left over, rolled it, and put it in the freezer. Merry Christmas, everybody!

Year 2, Day 296: The Night Before

Today's Sunday Times had at least three articles about Jews who celebrated Christmas. Futher, they had a lot of articles about whether it's OK to lie to your kids about Santa. I find it amazing that we are such deep, nazel-gazing times. Life isn't more complicated then it used to be, it's just there's so much more detail available and so quickly. It seems to me that we continue to deal with the same problems when you can get enough distance to examine it properly.

Breakfast
Kashi Go Lean!
Heritage Flakes
Ikea Muesli
Blueberries
Banana
Unsweetened Soy Milk
Coffee

Snack
2 Sticks Beef Jerky
Almonds & Cashews

Lunch:
Romaine/Cabbage/Red Onion/Chicken/Feta Balsamic Vinegar

Postworkout Snack
6 oz. Plain Yogurt
4 Tablespoons Super Chunky Peanut Butter

Dinner
Steak Tips
Broccoli

Dessert
Two Chocolate Chip Cookies

Had a good workout today, though it was after lunch and that's always more difficult for me. It was a return to the JCC but I didn't notice that the new lighting (they were closed on Friday to install) was any big deal. It was the all-Christmas workout. I listened to mostly collections of Christmas songs that I have collected throughout the years and it was quite nice. Nothing bad on the news and the place was pretty empty. When I returned home I thought Ruby and I would make chocolate chip cookies for Christmas Eve. After fruitlessly searching all morning on the Ineternet, I used the recipe on the Ghiradelli Chocolate Chip bag. Though I didn't find any good recipes, I did learn a few things from the Internet about making chocolate chip cookies. 1) Double the Vanilla. This was an incredible tip, and really made a difference. 2) Subtract a teaspoon of sugar from whatever the recipe calls for. Again, this turned out to be right on the money. 3) Add salt—chocolate loves salt. Again, true true true. One thing I did follow but I'm not sure if it made a difference was " Make sure the pan is room temperature and the cookies are cold." Can't tell if this helped, and not sure how I could have done it any differently. The cookie dough (my personal favorite thing) was absolutely delicious. We all ate chocolate chip cookies and listened to the all-Christmas radio station. Though I felt guilty for a cookie I figured what the hell, it's Christmas Eve and I worked out. So I ate another one.