LAUSR

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore pre-readers’ comprehension of a story with competing character goals. Fifty-eight children in three age groups (2½–3 years; 3–4 years; and 4–5 years) were read a story in which the protagonist’s goal was unstated and conflicted with the goal of the secondary character. Understanding of explicit story content was tested through a joint story retell, during which children were prompted to supply 10 story elements. Children in the two older groups supplied more than half of the elements; those in the youngest group obtained a significantly lower score, supplying an average of two elements. Responses to questions suggested that a majority of participants in each age group had accurately inferred the protagonist’s goal. However, few children demonstrated that they had linked actions with goal, an indication that they had difficulty grasping the goal structure of a story with competing goals.