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A Similarity Heuristic in Children’s Possibility Judgments
Author(s) -
Goulding Brandon W.,
Friedman Ori
Publication year - 2021
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.13534
Subject(s) - similarity (geometry) , psychology , heuristic , event (particle physics) , cognitive psychology , social psychology , artificial intelligence , computer science , physics , quantum mechanics , image (mathematics)
Children often judge that strange and improbable events are impossible, but the mechanisms behind their reasoning remain unclear. This article ( N  = 250) provides evidence that young children use a similarity heuristic that compares potential events to similar known events to determine whether events are possible. Experiment 1 shows that 5‐ to 6‐year‐olds who hear about improbable events go on to judge that similar improbable events can happen. Experiment 2 shows that 5‐ to 6‐year‐olds more often affirm that improbable events can happen if told about related improbable events than if told about unrelated ones. Finally, Experiment 3 shows that 5‐ to 6‐year‐olds affirm the possibility of improbable events related to known events, but deny that related impossible events can happen.

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