The results suggest that pretending to be a popular fictional character helps young children to resist distraction, at least compared to the other conditions used in this experiment. White and her team think this is probably at least partly because it helps create a feeling of self-distance from the task, which is known to help people resist immediate distractions and prioritise longer-term goals. The trouble is, there are so many other aspects to the Batman condition that could have led to its apparent benefits, such as perhaps it simply made the boring task more fun, or maybe the children identified with their fictional character and assumed some of his or her qualities.
Källa: Pretending to be Batman helps kids stay on task – Research Digest