How you learned matters: The process by which others learn informs young children's decisions about whom to ask for help

Sophie Bridgers, Hyowon Gweon, Maria Bretzke, Azzurra Ruggeri

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report typesConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

Prior work suggests that young children consider others' knowledge and expertise to decide from whom to learn. Do children also consider how others came to know what they know? Here we investigate young children's sensitivity to the process by which people have learned. In Exp.1, 3- to 6-year-olds preferentially sought help from an active learner, who had figured out how to solve a problem by herself, over learners who had learned through passive observation or direct instruction. Yet, this preference emerged only when the problem children needed to solve was related to the one the learners had previously solved (i.e., when they thought the active learner's competence would be relevant). These findings suggest children inferred competence from the process of active learning, but considered this competence to be constrained to a particular task rather than more broadly generalizeable. The results of Exp.2 (3- to 7-year-olds) suggest that younger children's learner preference might be driven by more superficial cues related to active learning such as being alone and that a more abstract understanding of the process of active learning might develop with age.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 40th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2018
PublisherThe Cognitive Science Society
Pages1402-1407
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9780991196784
StatePublished - 2018
Externally publishedYes
Event40th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Changing Minds, CogSci 2018 - Madison, United States
Duration: 25 Jul 201828 Jul 2018

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 40th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2018

Conference

Conference40th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Changing Minds, CogSci 2018
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityMadison
Period25/07/1828/07/18

Keywords

  • active learning
  • help-seeking
  • knowledge acquisition
  • problem-solving
  • selective trust

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