147 4- to 10-yr.-old children were identified at the preoperational, transitional, and concrete operation stages of cognitive development and were interviewed as to their beliefs in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. Both age and stage were significantly related to belief in these fantasy figures, but when age was controlled, the correlations were nonsignificant for stage and belief. The age at which disbelief occurred was about 8 yr. for both boys and girls.
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Blair et al. (1980) studied this question.
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