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Life can be pretty confusing if you're a kid.
如果你是个孩子，生活可能会很混乱。
Like, you thought Elsa was just a cartoon on the TV screen in Frozen, but then your parents took you to Disney World, and there she is!
就像，你以为艾尔莎只是电视屏幕上冰雪奇缘中的一个角色，但是父母带你去迪斯尼乐园，你看到她就在那儿！
Are you just supposed to believe this person claiming to be Elsa is the real McCoy, and if so, does she have the same magical powers?
你是否应该相信这个自称艾尔莎的人是真的吗？如果是的话，她也拥有同样的魔力吗？
And what's she doing in decidedly-not-frozen Florida?
她在不会冰封的佛罗里达州干什么呢？
It's easy to think of young kids as being… dumber than adults.
人们很容易认为小孩比成人笨。
Meaning maybe it's easy to trick them into thinking fantastical things about the world.
也就是说，也许很容易诱使他们去思考关于这个世界的奇思妙想。
But studies show that they're more sophisticated than you might guess.
但研究表明，他们比你想象的要复杂。
The way their minds develop is more complex than just "dumb version of adult gets less dumb over time."
他们的思维发展方式比“愚蠢的成年人随着时间的推移变得不那么愚蠢”更为复杂。
In fact, studies show that they may be able to grasp more intricate ideas earlier than many adults would assume, with the right guidance.
事实上，研究表明，在正确的指导下，他们可能比许多成年人想象的能更早地掌握更复杂的想法。
To understand the ways children can be tricked into thinking fantastical things, we need to know how they learn what other people are thinking as they grow up.
为了理解诱使孩子们天马行空思维的方式，我们需要知道他们是如何在成长过程中学习别人的思考方式的。
And developmental psychologists are very interested in the changes that happen in most kids between the ages of three and five.
发展心理学家对大多数三到五岁的孩子所发生的变化非常感兴趣。
One of the ways psychologists have studied this is with something called a false belief task, in which researchers induce a false belief in children, then reveal the truth.
心理学家研究这一问题的方法之一是用一种称为错误信念任务的方法，在这个任务中，研究人员让儿童产生错误的信念，然后揭示真相。
For example, they might fill a candy box with pencils.
例如，他们可以用铅笔把糖果盒装满。
They show kids the box, then reveal the pencils and ask kids what they thought was in there.
他们把盒子拿给孩子们看，然后把铅笔拿出来，问孩子们他们认为里面装的是什么。
But when you show them the pencils inside, the kids explain their confusion in different ways.
但是当你给他们看里面的铅笔时，孩子们用不同的方式解释他们的困惑。
An early study, published in 1988 in Child Development, used a couple versions of this task, including the candy box and a sponge painted to look like a rock.
1988年发表在《儿童发展》杂志上的一项早期研究使用了这项任务的两个版本，包括糖果盒和一块看起像石头的海绵。
Across two experiments, 34 five-year-olds generally had no problem saying they were wrong initially, for example, they thought the box had candy in it.
在两个实验中，34位五岁的孩子一开始得知自己错了，都表示没有什么。例如，他们认为盒子里有糖果。
But when 34 three-year-olds were asked what they thought was inside the box before it was opened, they were more likely to say pencils.
但是当34位三岁的孩子在打开盒子前被问到他们认为盒子里装的是什么时，他们更倾向于说是铅笔。
As if they had always thought that.
好像他们一直都这么认为。
And if you ask them what another child who wasn't in the room would think, someone who didn't see the box opened, three-year-olds were more likely to say that the other kid would think it was pencils, too.
如果你问他们另一个不在房间里的孩子会怎么想，一个没看到盒子被打开的人，3岁的孩子更可能说另一个孩子也会认为是铅笔。
It's almost like for a three-year-old, knowledge they have is all the knowledge there is.
对一个3岁的孩子来说，他们拥有的知识就是一切。
Even what they themselves used to think, that there was candy in the box, doesn't count.
即使他们自己过去认为，盒子里有糖果也不算。
But by the time you're five, you start to realize that people can have different levels of knowledge, and that things like a misleading label can trick them.
但是当你五岁时，你开始意识到人们拥有的知识程度不同，像误导性标签这样的东西可以欺骗他们。
This understanding is what psychologists call theory of mind.
心理学家称其为心理理论。
In part, it's the understanding that other people have other minds that are filled with different ideas.
在某种程度上，这种理解是指其他人的头脑中充满了不同的想法。
Theory of mind may differ in some people, such as those on the autism spectrum, but it's helpful for understanding how our minds mature in general.
心理理论可能在某些人身上有所不同，比如自闭症患者，但它有助于理解我们的心理是如何成熟的。
And we're starting to see that that might happen earlier than we used to think.
我们开始发现这可能比我们以前想象的要早。
Experiments published in 2013 showed that kids as young as three can pass the false belief test, if you modify it a little.
2013年公布的实验表明，只要稍加修改，三岁的孩子就能通过错误信念测试。
The researchers introduced kids to a doll who just loves bananas.
研究人员给孩子们介绍了一个只喜欢香蕉的娃娃。
The experimenter would put some toy bananas in a toy fridge, then make the doll go for a walk.
实验者会把一些玩具香蕉放在玩具冰箱里，然后让洋娃娃去散步。
Then, with the child watching, they'd sneakily switch the bananas to a different toy fridge.
然后，在孩子的注视下，他们会偷偷地把香蕉换到另一个玩具冰箱里。
When the doll got back from her walk, the experimenter would ask the child what would happen next.
当娃娃散步回来时，实验者会问孩子接下来会发生什么。
20 out of 25 children, aged between three and four, guessed that the doll would look for a banana in the wrong place, even though far fewer of them passed the more standard candy box version of the task.
25个孩子中有20个年龄在三到四岁之间，他们猜测娃娃会在错误的地方寻找香蕉，尽管能通过标准糖果盒测试的孩子要少得多。
So maybe kids understand false beliefs earlier than we thought, and can communicate that fact, given the means and the right framing.
所以，也许孩子们理解错误信念的时间比我们想象得更早，并且能够表达这个事实，只要有方式和正确的框架。
And if you give them the option of saying they're not sure, it becomes clearer that they're learning.
如果你让他们选择说他们不确定，他们就更清楚地知道他们在学习。
A study published in 2004 tested this by asking 64 kids about real and fantasy creatures, including some examples that were specific, like Santa Claus, and some more generic, like "a monster," or "a fairy."
2004年发表的一项研究中，研究人员询问64个孩子关于真实和幻想的生物来验证这一点，包括一些具体的例子，比如圣诞老人，还有一些更普通的例子，比如“怪物”或者“仙女”。
And then they asked a variety of questions about them, like, "do they dream?"
然后询问了很多关于他们的问题，比如，“他们做梦吗？”
"do they get older every year?" and the oh-so-important, "can they travel the world in one night?"
“他们每年都会变老吗？”，还有很重要的问题，“他们能在一个晚上环游世界吗？”
Finally, they asked the kids to sort all the creatures into three piles: things that were definitely real, things that were just pretend, and things they weren't sure about.
最后，他们让孩子们把所有的生物分成三类：绝对真实的，只是假装的，以及他们不确定的。
Three-year-olds in the study sorted things kind of randomly, their accuracy wasn't any different from chance overall.
研究中三岁的孩子对事物的分类是随机的，他们的准确度和总体的随机性没有任何区别。
Both four- and five-year-olds were better at telling the imaginary entities from the real ones, though yes, Virginia, they did believe in Santa Claus.
四岁和五岁的孩子都更善于分辨虚幻物和真实的生物，但他们确实相信有圣诞老人的存在。
Which, the researchers pointed out, is a belief that many parents encourage.
研究人员指出，这是由许多父母促成的一种信念。
And the kids made a lot of use of the "not sure" option, suggesting they were genuinely unsure, rather than incorrectly believing monsters are real.
孩子们经常使用“不确定”选项，这表明他们是真的不确定，而不是错误地相信怪物是真的。
And both four- and five-year-olds said that the human-like traits, things like dreaming and getting older every year, were more likely to be true of the real entities than the imaginary ones.
四岁和五岁的孩子都说，像做梦和每年变老这样人类拥有的特质，更有可能是真是存在的，而不是想象中的。
The five-year-olds in particular were nearly identical to adults in their answers.
尤其是五岁的孩子，他们的答案与成年人几乎一模一样。
All of this suggests that kids this age were better than previously believed at navigating the distinction between what's real and what's not.
所有这些都表明，这个年龄段的孩子在区分真实和虚构方面比之前人们认为得要好。
And sometimes, even if kids tell you they believe something pretend is real, they still might not behave as if they do.
有时候，即使孩子们告诉你，他们相信一些假装的东西是真的，他们可能仍然不会表现得像是真的。
Like when researchers in 1994 asked 42 kids to imagine an object, such as a pencil, being in a box.
就像1994年时，研究人员让42个孩子想象一个物体，比如在一个盒子里的铅笔。
They were asked for details like what color the pencil was, and whether it was really in there, to which about a quarter of four- and five-year-olds said, yes.
他们被问到一些细节，如铅笔的颜色，是否真在盒子里，大约四分之一的四五岁的孩子说，是的。
But then, when another researcher came into the room and said they needed a pencil to do some work, almost none of them volunteered the pencil they said they believed was in the box.
但后来，当另一位研究人员走进房间，说他们需要一支铅笔来做一些工作时，几乎没有一个人自愿拿出他们认为放在盒子里的铅笔。
Even the three-year-olds, of whom a third said their imaginary pencil actually existed, mostly didn't volunteer it to help.
在三岁的孩子中，即使三分之一的人说他们想象中的铅笔确实存在，但大多数孩子也没有自愿帮忙。
Almost all the kids would offer a real pencil they knew was there.
几乎所有的孩子都会拿出一支真正的铅笔。
Kids are helpful that way.
孩子们这样做是很有益的。
They just didn't volunteer the pretend one.
他们只是没有自愿假装。
So next time you run into a kid who's excited to go meet Elsa, keep in mind that research shows they might not really believe she's real, and they're just enjoying playing pretend.
所以下次你遇到一个很想去见艾尔莎的孩子时，要记住，研究表明他们可能并不真的相信她是真的，他们只是喜欢假装她存在。
That kid likely knows there are some things about Elsa that aren't the same as real people, or might not expect her to use her powers to help if they were in trouble.
那个孩子很可能知道艾尔莎的一些事情和现实中的人不一样，或者如果他们遇到麻烦的话，可能不能指望她用自己的能力去帮助他们。
But if nothing else, kids are more sophisticated and less gullible than you might guess.
但是孩子们比你想象的更老练，更不容易受骗。
They just might need a little more explaining, or the right kind of question, to know what they know.
他们可能需要更多的解释，或是正确的问题，来了解自己知道什么。
When you're a parent, it seems like everyone has a different idea of what it means to take good care of your kid.
当你是家长的时候，似乎每个人对照顾好孩子都有不同的看法。
But one way you can definitely do it is to make sure they see a doctor regularly.
但有一种方法你肯定能做到，那就是确保他们定期看医生。
Annual check-ups help catch potential problems early on when they can be most easily dealt with.
年度体检有助于尽早发现潜在的疾病，这样最容易治疗。
And kids' bodies and brains are constantly changing, so it's especially helpful to stay up to date on their health.
孩子们的身体和大脑也在不断地变化，所以了解他们的健康状况特别有帮助。
And the good news is, if you have a kid, you might be eligible to get this kind of appointment for free!
好消息是，如果你有孩子，你可能有资格得到这种免费的预约！
If you live in Minnesota, you can learn more at FreeChildCheckups.com.
如果你住在明尼苏达州，你可以在FreeChildCheckups.com上了解更多信息。
And if you don't, you can click the link in the description to learn what kind of benefits might be available for you and your family.
如果不是的话，你可以点击描述中的链接，了解你和家人可以享受什么样的福利。
In Minnesota alone, over 500,000 kids are eligible for these check-ups, where their doctor will check out their hearing, vision, teeth, and other health details depending on their age.
仅在明尼苏达州，就有超过50万的孩子有资格接受这些检查。医生会根据他们的年龄检查听力、视力、牙齿和其他健康状况。
And that's the kind of information that always helps you and your child live healthier, happier lives.
这类信息总能帮助你和孩子过上更健康、更快乐的生活。
