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Probability Learning: Changes in Behavior Across Time and Development
Author(s) -
Plate Rista C.,
Fulvio Jacqueline M.,
Shutts Kristin,
Green C. Shawn,
Pollak Seth D.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12718
Subject(s) - psychology , session (web analytics) , receipt , probabilistic logic , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , behavior change , social psychology , artificial intelligence , computer science , world wide web
Individuals track probabilities, such as associations between events in their environments, but less is known about the degree to which experience—within a learning session and over development—influences people's use of incoming probabilistic information to guide behavior in real time. In two experiments, children (4–11 years) and adults searched for rewards hidden in locations with predetermined probabilities. In Experiment 1, children ( n = 42) and adults ( n = 32) changed strategies to maximize reward receipt over time. However, adults demonstrated greater strategy change efficiency. Making the predetermined probabilities more difficult to learn (Experiment 2) delayed effective strategy change for children ( n = 39) and adults ( n = 33). Taken together, these data characterize how children and adults alike react flexibly and change behavior according to incoming information.