Premium
Dealing with conflicting information: young children’s reliance on what they see versus what they are told
Author(s) -
Ma Lili,
Ganea Patricia A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
developmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.801
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1467-7687
pISSN - 1363-755X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00878.x
Subject(s) - psychology , skepticism , false memory , developmental psychology , social psychology , false belief , theory of mind , cognitive psychology , cognition , epistemology , neuroscience , philosophy , recall
Children often learn about the world through direct observation. However, much of children’s knowledge is acquired through the testimony of others. This research investigates how preschoolers weigh these two sources of information when they are in conflict. Children watched as an adult hid a toy in one location. Then the adult told children that the toy was in a different location (i.e. false testimony). When retrieving the toy, 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds relied on what they had seen and disregarded the adult’s false testimony. However, most 3‐year‐olds deferred to the false testimony, despite what they had directly observed. Importantly, with a positive searching experience based on what they saw, or with a single prior experience with an adult as unreliable, 3‐year‐olds subsequently relied on their first‐hand observation and disregarded the adult’s false testimony. Thus, young children may initially be credulous toward others’ false testimony that contradicts their direct observation, but skepticism can develop quickly through experience.