Premium
Mechanism‐Based Causal Reasoning in Young Children
Author(s) -
Buchanan David W.,
Sobel David M.
Publication year - 2011
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/j.1467-8624.2011.01646.x
Subject(s) - psychology , mechanism (biology) , causal reasoning , developmental psychology , concept learning , cognitive development , causal model , cognitive psychology , child development , cognition , medicine , philosophy , epistemology , pathology , neuroscience
The hypothesis that children develop an understanding of causal mechanisms was tested across 3 experiments. In Experiment 1 ( N = 48), preschoolers had to choose as efficacious either a cause that had worked in the past, but was now disconnected from its effect, or a cause that had failed to work previously, but was now connected. Four‐year‐olds chose the now‐connected cause more often than 3‐year‐olds. Experiment 2 ( N = 16) showed 4‐year‐olds responded appropriately to an irrelevant modification in the same causal system. Experiment 3 ( N = 24) demonstrated when the mechanism was batteries rather than connection, 3‐year‐olds could properly distinguish between relevant and irrelevant modifications. Together, these data suggest that understanding of specific causal mechanisms develops at different ages.