1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain stuff from how Stuff Works. Hey, brain 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: stuff is Christian saga here pretending is fun. Take the 3 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: simple task of making breakfast. Would you rather make scrambled 4 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 1: eggs while pondering your utility payments? Or say, pretend you're 5 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: a short order cook tasked with making the world's best 6 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,480 Speaker 1: scrambled eggs for a celebrity breakfast is a lot more 7 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: interesting when there's something at stake. According to a recent 8 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: study in the journal Child Development, kids are savvy to 9 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: this trick. Self distancing is when we view personal experiences 10 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: from an outsider's perspective. Aiming to test the benefits of 11 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:45,839 Speaker 1: this on children's perseverance, the researchers asked one hundred and 12 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: eighty kids ages four or six to do a pretty 13 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 1: boring computer task for ten minutes. Although all the kids 14 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: had to do was press a key when they saw 15 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: a certain image, they were told the task was important 16 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: and that they had to be good helpers. They could 17 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: take breaks to play a game on an iPad if 18 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: they wanted. The researchers split the kids into three groups 19 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: and asked each to think about its performance on the 20 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: given task from a certain perspective self immersed third person 21 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: or exemplar? Kids in the self immersed group asked themselves, 22 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,320 Speaker 1: am I working hard? The third person group reflected on 23 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:30,039 Speaker 1: the task by asking, is Christian Sager working hard? Now? 24 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: That's just me doing the third person there and the 25 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 1: exemplar group, those children imagined they were either Batman, Bob 26 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: the Builder, Rapunzel, or Dora the Explorer, well known characters 27 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 1: who are model hard workers, and were given props to 28 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: help them get in character. They were told to ask themselves, 29 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:54,639 Speaker 1: for example, is Batman working hard? Every minute of the task. 30 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: A recorded voice prompted the children with their allotted question. 31 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: The researchers found at the kids in both age groups 32 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: who imagined themselves as a character spent a longer time 33 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: on the task, although predictably the younger kids spent less 34 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 1: time on the task than the older kids across the board. 35 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: The six year olds who were asked to reflect in 36 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: person spent about thirty five percent of the time on 37 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 1: the task rather than on break in the four year 38 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:26,799 Speaker 1: olds just over, but the children pretending to be fictional 39 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: heroes spent fifty five percent of their time working, while 40 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: the four year olds in this group spent thirty two 41 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: percent of their time on task. The researchers posit that 42 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: when the children used third person or impersonated characters, the 43 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: kids distanced themselves from the boring task and tempting game, 44 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: allowing them to gain more focus and self control. Taking 45 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: an outsider's perspective on one's own behavior can improve perseverance 46 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 1: in the face of entertaining distraction. This is what the 47 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: researchers say in their study, but interpreting these results is 48 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: not so simple. Is pretending to be a character just fun? 49 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: Does it make kids think like they're powerful alter egos? 50 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: The study authors say, Answering these questions will require more research. Regardless, 51 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,960 Speaker 1: the current study suggests that for kids, sticking to a 52 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,079 Speaker 1: task might be easier with role play. Now, if you'll 53 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: excuse me, I've got to go change outfits because I 54 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: am vengeance. I am the Night. Today's episode was written 55 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: by Kate Kirshner, produced by Tristan McNeil and For more 56 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: on this and other topics, please visit us at how 57 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com.