Young children's concepts of danger

Two studies are reported here investigating the development of children's concepts of danger, both in terms of their understanding and the salience of danger in unprompted situations. In Expt 1, 120 children, aged between 5 and 10 years, and 30 adults were asked to describe and sort materials representing situations of varying degrees of hazard. Salience was assessed from uncued descriptions and categorizations of the materials and understanding of danger was assessed through cued categorization. In Expt 2, 120 children aged from 4 to 8 years were asked to identify a dangerous situation from a set of four similar pictures. The results of both experiments demonstrated that even the youngest children demonstrated a rudimentary concept of danger and this understanding developed with age. Although the salience of danger also increased with age, it was still low in the 9-10-year-olds when compared with adults. Prior experience of danger, parental educational level and nature of presentation were also found to have an influence. The findings are discussed in terms of safety education and possible overestimation of children's ability to recognize danger from their cued knowledge.