Kids pretending to be proficient media characters continue longer on tedious tasks

Earlier investigations have revealed that kids pretending to be proficient media characters continue longer on tedious tasks and do better on executive function tasks versus kids thinking about themselves from the first-person point of view. 

Taking the viewpoint of individuals more efficiently than themselves enables kids to reflect on the challenge and perceive it from various angles. It forms mental space or “psychological distance” between themselves and the effort-intensive task and helps them picture an exemplar.