Robinson, Elizabeth J. and Whitcombe, E. L.. (2003) Children's suggestibility in relation to their understanding about sources of knowledge. Child Development, Vol.74 (No.1). pp. 48-62. ISSN 0009-3920

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Abstract

In the experiments reported here, children chose either to maintain their initial belief about an object's identity or to accept the experimenter's contradicting suggestion. Both 3– to 4–year–olds and 4– to 5–year–olds were good at accepting the suggestion only when the experimenter was better informed than they were (implicit source monitoring). They were less accurate at recalling both their own and the experimenter's information access (explicit recall of experience), though they performed well above chance. Children were least accurate at reporting whether their final belief was based on what they were told or on what they experienced directly (explicit source monitoring). Contrasting results emerged when children decided between contradictory suggestions from two differentially informed adults: Three– to 4–year–olds were more accurate at reporting the knowledge source of the adult they believed than at deciding which suggestion was reliable. Decision making in this observation task may require reflective understanding akin to that required for explicit source judgments when the child participates in the task.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science > Psychology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Child development -- Research, Cognition in children, Visual perception in children, Concepts in children, Mental suggestion
Journal or Publication Title:	Child Development
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
ISSN:	0009-3920
Date:	February 2003
Volume:	Vol.74
Number:	No.1
Page Range:	pp. 48-62
Identification Number:	10.1111/1467-8624.t01-1-00520
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
Funder:	Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Great Britain) (BBSRC)
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URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1251

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