Preschoolers selectively trust and selectively share with others based on their past accuracy and intentions.

This study investigated whether preschool-age children consider both an individual's past accuracy and intentions when deciding whether to trust and share with that individual. The participants, 3- to 5-year-olds (N = 168), played a searching game with partners who varied in both accuracy (accurate or inaccurate) and intentions (prosocial or antisocial). Children received advice from partners about where to look for a hidden object, earning prizes for correct guesses. Then they were given an opportunity to share their prizes with their partner. Results indicated that children trusted sources who provided accurate advice (regardless of intentions) and shared with sources who provided accurate advice or demonstrated prosocial intentions. These findings suggest that children attend to both an individual's accuracy and intentions when deciding how to interact with social partners and may weigh this information differently to make different social decisions.

The influence of popular media characters on children's object choices.

Children often prefer objects and food packaging bearing images of popular media characters. However, it is unclear what factors may influence this. This study investigated whether depictions of popular media characters on high-quality (brand new) and low-quality (dirty, broken) objects influenced 3- to 4-year-old children's (N = 84) object preferences, as well as which objects children selected to help them complete a functional task (e.g., using a bucket to transport several small items). We also investigated whether children's preferences were related to inhibitory control. We found children's preferences were influenced by images of popular characters, but not their choice of objects for functional use. Instead, children relied on object quality when selecting an object to complete a task. Inhibitory control was not related to children's object choices. These results suggest children may weigh object features differently when making decisions for different purposes.

Do Children Distinguish Between Resource Inequalities With Individual Versus Structural Origins?

This study investigated children's ability to distinguish between resource inequalities with individual versus structural origins. Children (3- to 8-years-old; N = 93) were presented with resource inequalities based on either recipients' merit (individual factor) or gender (structural factor). Children were assessed on their expectations for others' allocations, own allocations, reasoning, and evaluations of others' allocations. Children perpetuated merit-based inequalities and either rectified or allocated equally in response to gender-based inequalities. Older, but not younger, children expected others to perpetuate both types of inequalities and differed in their evaluations and reasoning. Links between children's allocations and judgments were also found. Results reveal novel insights into children's developing consideration of the structural and individual factors leading to resource inequalities.

Consider the source: Children link the accuracy of text-based sources to the accuracy of the author.

The present research investigated whether young children link the accuracy of text-based information to the accuracy of its author. Across three experiments, three- and four-year-olds (N = 231) received information about object labels from accurate and inaccurate sources who provided information both in text and verbally. Of primary interest was whether young children would selectively rely on information provided by more accurate sources, regardless of the form in which the information was communicated. Experiment 1 tested children's trust in text-based information (e.g., books) written by an author with a history of either accurate or inaccurate verbal testimony and found that children showed greater trust in books written by accurate authors. Experiment 2 replicated the findings of Experiment 1 and extended them by showing that children's selective trust in more accurate text-based sources was not dependent on experience trusting or distrusting the author's verbal testimony. Experiment 3 investigated this understanding in reverse by testing children's trust in verbal testimony communicated by an individual who had authored either accurate or inaccurate text-based information. Experiment 3 revealed that children showed greater trust in individuals who had authored accurate rather than inaccurate books. Experiment 3 also demonstrated that children used the accuracy of text-based sources to make inferences about the mental states of the authors. Taken together, these results suggest children do indeed link the reliability of text-based sources to the reliability of the author. Statement of Contribution Existing knowledge Children use sources' prior accuracy to predict future accuracy in face-to-face verbal interactions. Children who are just learning to read show increased trust in text bases (vs. verbal) information. It is unknown whether children consider authors' prior accuracy when judging the accuracy of text-based information. New knowledge added by this article Preschool children track sources' accuracy across communication mediums - from verbal to text-based modalities and vice versa. Children link the reliability of text-based sources to the reliability of the author.

In the absence of conflicting testimony young children trust inaccurate informants.

The present research investigated the nature of the inferences and decisions young children make about informants with a prior history of inaccuracies. Across three experiments, 3- and 4-year-olds (total N = 182) reacted to previously inaccurate informants who offered testimony in an object-labeling task. Of central interest was children's willingness to accept information provided by an inaccurate informant in different contexts of being alone, paired with an accurate informant, or paired with a novel (neutral) informant. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that when a previously inaccurate informant was alone and provided testimony that was not in conflict with the testimony of another informant, children systematically accepted the testimony of that informant. Experiment 3 showed that children accepted testimony from a neutral informant over an inaccurate informant when both provided information, but accepted testimony from an inaccurate informant rather than seeking information from an available neutral informant who did not automatically offer information. These results suggest that even though young children use prior history of accuracy to determine the relative reliability of informants, they are quite willing to trust the testimony of a single informant alone, regardless of whether that informant had previously been reliable.

Young children's trust in overtly misleading advice.

The ability of 3- and 4-year-old children to disregard advice from an overtly misleading informant was investigated across five studies (total n = 212). Previous studies have documented limitations in young children's ability to reject misleading advice. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that these limitations are primarily due to an inability to reject specific directions that are provided by others, rather than an inability to respond in a way that is opposite to what has been indicated by a cue. In Studies 1 through 4, a puppet identified as The Big Bad Wolf offered advice to participants about which of two boxes contained a hidden sticker. Regardless of the form the advice took, 3-year olds performed poorly by failing to systematically reject it. However, when participants in Study 5 believed they were responding to a mechanical cue rather than the advice of the Wolf, they were better able to reject misleading advice, and individual differences in performance on the primary task were systematically correlated with measures of executive function. Results are interpreted as providing support for the communicative intent hypothesis, which posits that children find it especially difficult to reject deceptive information that they perceive as being intentionally communicated by others.

Selective trust: children's use of intention and outcome of past testimony.

Children's epistemic vigilance was examined for their reasoning about the intentions and outcomes of informants' past testimony. In a 2 × 2 factorial design, 5- and 6-year-olds witnessed informants offering advice based on the intent to help or deceive others about the location of hidden prizes, with the advice leading to positive or negative outcomes. Informants then suggested to the children where to search for hidden prizes. Children trusted informants who had previously tried to help others more than informants who had previously tried to deceive others, regardless of past outcome. In addition, children trusted informants with positive past outcomes more than informants with negative past outcomes, regardless of intention. By varying intention and outcome independently, this study revealed that when children are deciding whether to trust testimony, they take into account the informant's mental states but also give slightly greater weight to the informants' past outputs.

The development of distrust.

Preschool-age children's reasoning about the reliability of deceptive sources was investigated. Ninety 3- to 5-year-olds watched several trials in which an informant gave advice about the location of a hidden sticker. Informants were either helpers who were happy to give correct advice, or trickers who were happy to give incorrect advice. Three-year-olds tended to accept all advice from both helpers and trickers. Four-year-olds were more skeptical but showed no preference for advice from helpers over trickers, even though they differentiated between helpers and trickers on metacognitive measures. Five-year-olds systematically preferred advice from helpers. Selective trust was associated with children's ability to make mental state inferences.