In order to answer questions concerning the child’understanding of intention, this study investigates different notion of intentionality showed by children 3-4-5-year-olds. The crucial point of our research is to see whether and when children conceptualize intentions as mental states that precede and cause actions. 70 children were evaluated through a false belief task and a narrative procedure. Results indicates that children 3- year-olds are able to distin-guish between intentional and unintentional action, children 4-year-olds mainly identify in-tention-in action while children 5-year-olds understand the causal nature of intention.

Emma Baumgartner, Valentina Dessì, in "RASSEGNA DI PSICOLOGIA" 1/2002, pp. , DOI: