MY BLANKIE

A raggedy blanket, a tatty teddy bear: the dog-eared appearance of many childhood possessions is testament to how dearly they are held. But when and how does this sense of ownership begin? Even a newborn regards their mother as “special”, and will seek out her face and smell over those of other women. By 2 months, babies begin to understand that they have ownership of their own bodies, while at 8 months they start to grasp the concept of loss. By 12 months they start to form attachments to comfort-objects like blankets. Psychologists suggest these provide a temporary substitute for their caregiver. Also around one year, children start to say their first words, usually nouns like “bath” and “duck”. By 21 months or so a word surfaces that will provide a soundtrack for the coming years: “mine”. Not for nothing are they called the terrible twos: the constant squabbles over possessions are combined with an underdeveloped sense of empathy and a propensity to tantrum. Two-year-olds fight harder for toys when they actually own them, indicating they can distinguish temporary possession from longer-term ownership,  says Susan Gelman, who studies conceptual development in children at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “By 3 years of age they even DDP/CAMERAPRESS protest if someone tries to take or throw away someone else’s toy, which shows that they understand ownership even when it doesn’t involve their own self-interest.” Children’s concept of ownership continues to change as they grow older. Gelman’s team recently ran an experiment in which 2 and 3-year-olds were shown three objects; one they were told was “theirs”, one which belonged to the researcher and one simply placed beside the others. When the items looked different, 2-year-olds had no problem identifying which was theirs, but if they were identical, or their object was less desirable, they would become confused. In contrast, 3-year-olds kept track – even when their object was far  less desirable than the other two (Child Development, vol 83, p 1732). This may help to explain why the replacement of a lost “blankie” or teddy bear with a newer model never goes down well: ownership overrides appearance. Indeed, when Bruce Hood from the University of Bristol, UK, showed 3 to 6-year-olds a “magic copying machine” that could replicate their favourite toy, most children demanded the original back, and a quarter refused to have it copied at all. Ownership seems to bestow a magical quality that can’t be faked – even in young children.   Linda Geddes