27/06/2022
Let our kids figure out the truth for themselves instead of telling them.
Children spontaneously investigate an adult’s claim when it contradicts their belief!
Previous research has shown that children are willing to simply accept and trust surprising claims. However, little is known about whether they investigate those claims. This study specifically studied if children spontaneously investigated a counter-intuitive claim and whether they endorsed or rejected the claim. The study also considered whether culture and parental endorsement of authoritarian values shape children's investigation and reaction to contradictory evidence.
139 American and 167 Hong Kong preschool and elementary students participated in one of two randomly assigned conditions. The study presented children with 5 different sized Russian dolls and were either told that the biggest doll was the heaviest (confirming testimony condition) or that the smallest doll was the heaviest (counter-intuitive testimony condition). Children were then left to explore the dolls before they reported their final judgment to the experimenter.
It was found that very few children maintained their belief that the biggest doll was the heaviest when told otherwise. Most children accepted the experimenter’s contrasting claim and offered explanation such as “It’s small but maybe it contains a lot of stuff inside”. However, they also engaged in selective exploration of the dolls based on the testimony they received. Children who received testimony that contradicted their intuitions picked up the smallest and the biggest dolls more often. Additionally, older children often picked up the smallest and the biggest doll simultaneously to assess their relative weight. Older children whose parents endorsed fewer authoritarian values were more likely to pick up the different dolls and investigate the weight themselves. Although most children accepted the experimenter’s surprising testimony, their exploration of testimony impacted their judgements, and they judged the biggest doll as the heaviest more often than children who did not explore.
Children engaged in selective exploration of the biggest and smallest dolls when faced with a counter-intuitive claim. Older children who are more likely to explore also understand that claims can be tested and checked against their own beliefs. This shows an age-related change during the elementary school years in how children think about surprising and counter-intuitive claims. Therefore, this study showed that children do not just accept any claims, they think and consider claims even to the point of spontaneous investigation.
Written by: Evannia John
Study Title: Testing what you’re told: Young children’s empirical investigation of a surprising claim
Authors: Ronfard, S., Chen, E. E., & Harris, P. L. (2021)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2021.1891902
