The Library
Children’s trust in previously inaccurate informants who were well- or poorly- informed : when past errors can be excused
Tools
Tools
Tools
Nurmsoo, Erika and Robinson, Elizabeth J.. (2008) Children’s trust in previously inaccurate informants who were well- or poorly- informed : when past errors can be excused. Child development . ISSN 0009-3920
![[img]](http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png)
|
PDF
WRAP_Robinson8573940_081008_Nurmsoo_Robinson_2008_3.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader Download (53Kb) |
Abstract
Past research demonstrates that children learn from a previously accurate speaker rather than from a previously inaccurate one. This study shows that children do not necessarily treat a previously inaccurate speaker as unreliable. Rather, they appropriately excuse past inaccuracy arising from the speaker’s limited information access. Children (N = 67) aged 3, 4 and 5 years aimed to identify a hidden toy in collaboration with a puppet as informant. When the puppet had previously been inaccurate despite having full information, children tended to ignore what they were told and guess for themselves: They treated the puppet as unreliable in the longer term. However children more frequently believed a currently well-informed puppet whose past inaccuracies arose legitimately from inadequate information access.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science > Psychology |
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Child psychology, Knowledge, Theory of, Uncertainty |
| Journal or Publication Title: | Child development |
| Publisher: | Blackwell |
| ISSN: | 0009-3920 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| Status: | Peer Reviewed |
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
| Funder: | Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC) |
| Grant number: | RES-000-22-1847 |
| References: | Birch, S. A. J., Vauthier, S. A., & Bloom, P. (in press). Three- and four-year-olds spontaneously use others’ past performance to guide their learning. Cognition. Clement, F., Koenig, M., & Harris (2004) The ontogenesis of trust. Mind and Language, 19, 360-379. Csibra, G., & Gergey, G. (2005). Social learning and social cognition: The case for pedagogy. In M.H. Johnson & Y. Munakatas (Eds.) Processes of Change in Brain and Cognitive Development. Attention and Performance XXI. (pp. 249-274). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Harris, P. L. (2007). Trust. Developmental Science, 10, 135-138. Jaswal, V. K., & Neely, L. A. (2006). Adults don’t always know best: Preschoolers use past reliability over age when learning new words. Psychological Science, 17, 757-758. Koenig, M. A., Clement, F., and Harris, P. L. (2004) Trust in testimony: Children's use of true and false statements, Psychological Science, 15, 694–698. Koenig, M. A., & Harris, P. L. (2005). Preschoolers mistrust ignorant and inaccurate speakers. Child Development, 76, 1261-1277. Nurmsoo, E., & Robinson, E.J. (2007, October). Children trust speakers with a history of excusable inaccuracy. Poster presented at meetings of the Cognitive Development Society, Santa Fe, N.M. Nurmsoo, E. & Robinson, E.J. (in press) Identifying unreliable informants: Do children excuse past inaccuracy? Developmental Science. Trust in previously inaccurate informants Pasquini, E. S., Corriveau, K. H., Koenig, M., & Harris, P. L. (2007). Preschoolers monitor the relative accuracy of informants. Developmental Psychology, 43, 1216-1226. Robinson, E. J., Haigh, S. N., & Nurmsoo, E. (2008). Children’s working understanding of knowledge sources: Confidence in knowledge gained from testimony. Cognitive Development, 23, 105-118. Robinson, E. J., & Whitcombe, E. L. (2003). Children’s suggestibility in relation to their understanding about sources of knowledge. Child Development, 74, 48-62. Whitcombe, E. L., and Robinson, E. J. (2000) Children's decisions about what to believe and their ability to report the source of their belief, Cognitive Development, 15, 329–346. |
| URI: | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/180 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
