Date of Award

1-1-1983

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Children's knowledge of the physical realities of death was explored through the use of an objective answer death concepts questionnaire. A demographic questionnaire was used to identify religious influences and exposure to death-relevant experiences which could influence the acquisition of factual information about death.Knowledge of death was expected to be related to grade level, cognitive level, IQ level, religious influences and death-relevant experiences. Children's exposure to death-relevant experiences was expected to begin at an early age and increase with grade level and with cognitive level.One hundred and thirty-seven children in kindergarten, second, fourth, and sixth grades were individually administered the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test: Form A, five Piagetian tasks and a death concepts questionnaire. A demographic questionnaire was completed by a parent of each subject. Subjects were grouped by sex, grade level, cognitive level, and IQ level.The death concepts questionnaire was composed of 27 dichotomous answer questions and provided a total score and seven category scores: permanence, universality, body functions, senses, causes, age-at-death, and personal awareness. Analyses of variance were performed on these eight scores. Intelligence level, religious influences and death-relevant experiences were not shown to be related to the subject's knowledge. No significant differences were shown between groups for the total score or the scores in the following categories: body functions, senses or causes.Sex, grade level, and/or cognitive level were shown to be related to responses on the permanence, universality, age-at-death, and personal awareness categories. Death-relevant experiences were shown to begin at an early age and to increase with age and cognitive level.The results indicate that children can demonstrate an objective awareness of factual information about death, but they may have difficulty subjectively demonstrating that which they know.

Download

Share

COinS