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How Adults’ Actions, Outcomes, and Testimony Affect Preschoolers’ Persistence
Author(s) -
Leonard Julia A.,
Garcia Andrea,
Schulz Laura E.
Publication year - 2019
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.13305
Subject(s) - persistence (discontinuity) , psychology , affect (linguistics) , value (mathematics) , developmental psychology , task (project management) , social psychology , communication , geotechnical engineering , engineering , management , machine learning , computer science , economics
Across four experiments, we looked at how 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds' ( n = 520) task persistence was affected by observations of adult actions (high or low effort), outcomes (success or failure), and testimony (setting expectations—“This will be hard,” pep talks—“You can do this,” value statements—“Trying hard is important,” and baseline). Across experiments, outcomes had the biggest impact: preschoolers consistently tried harder after seeing the adult succeed than fail. Additionally, adult effort affected children’s persistence, but only when the adult succeeded. Finally, children’s persistence was highest when the adult both succeeded and practiced what she preached: exerting effort while testifying to its value.