Learning From Others and Spontaneous Exploration: A Cross-Cultural Investigation
Author(s)
Shneidman, Laura; Gweon, Hyowon; Woodward, Amanda L.; Schulz, Laura E
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How does early social experience affect children's inferences and exploration? Following prior work on children's reasoning in pedagogical contexts, this study examined U.S. children with less experience in formal schooling and Yucatec Mayan children whose early social input is predominantly observational. In Experiment 1, U.S. 2-year-olds (n = 77) showed more restricted exploration of a toy following a pedagogical demonstration than an interrupted, accidental, or no demonstration (baseline). In Experiment 2, Yucatec Mayan and U.S. 2-year-olds (n = 66) showed more restricted exploration following a pedagogical than an observational demonstration, while only Mayan children showed more restriction with age. These results suggest that although schooling is not a necessary precursor for sensitivity to pedagogy, early social experience may influence children's inferences and exploration in pedagogical contexts.
Date issued
2016-05Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive SciencesJournal
Child Development
Publisher
Wiley Blackwell
Citation
Shneidman, Laura et al. “Learning From Others and Spontaneous Exploration: A Cross-Cultural Investigation.” Child Development 87, 3 (May 2016): 723–735 © 2016 The Authors and Society for Research in Child Development, Inc
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
0009-3920
1467-8624