Choosing to learn: Investigating the factors that drive preschoolers' exploration

在生命的最初阶段，孩子们的行为就像有直觉的科学家——观察世界，形成关于世界如何运作的理论，预测他们的理论可能产生的后果，并干预以检验他们的预测。目前尚不清楚的是，这些“直觉科学家”是如何决定何时以及进行哪些探索机会的。本研究考察了当对“信息获取”（即“学习者期望更新其信念的程度”）有较高期望时，儿童是否有动机进行探索，并考察了探索是否对影响信息获取的因素的变化敏感。确定影响幼儿期有效主动学习的因素很重要，因为这可能导致了解学习动力方面更广泛的发展差异，从而对非正式和正式教育实践的发展产生直接影响。将这些发现推广到代表性不足的人群可能有助于我们制定早期干预措施，改善这些人群的生活。计划进行几组研究。一组将检查儿童是否跟踪概率信息，并能够使用预期奖励来推动决策。第二组研究调查的是，当孩子们认为学习一个物体会更困难（获得更高的信息）时，他们是否会有动力更长时间地探索一个物体，并且更多变。其余的实验考察儿童在两种不确定结果之间的选择。一组研究评估儿童在探索具有潜在信息收获的事件之前是否会考虑证据的影响。第二组研究着眼于儿童信仰背景下的信息获取——具体来说，在不同信仰之间转换的儿童（与那些更自信地扎根于当前信仰的儿童相比）是否更有动力去寻求有助于他们学习的信息。

Children in the earliest stages of life behave like intuitive scientists - observing the world, forming theories about how the world works, predicting possible consequences of their theories, and intervening to test their predictions. What is not clear is how these "intuitive scientists" go about deciding when and which exploration opportunities to pursue. This research investigates whether children are motivated to explore when there is high expectation in "Information Gain" i.e., "the degree to which a learner can expect to update her beliefs" and examines whether exploration is sensitive to variation in factors that will influence information gain. Identifying the factors that influence efficient active learning in early childhood is important because it could lead to understanding broader developmental differences in drive for learning, with direct consequences for the development of informal and formal educational practices. Extending these findings to under-represented populations may help us to develop early interventions that improve the lives of these populations.Several sets of studies are planned. One set will examine whether children track probability information and are able to use expected reward to drive decisions. The second set of studies investigate whether children are motivated to explore an object longer and more variably when they believe learning about it will be more difficult (have higher information gain). The remaining experiments examine children's choices between two uncertain outcomes. One set of studies assess whether children consider the effects of evidence prior to exploring events with potential information gain. The second set of studies looks at information gain in the context of children's beliefs - specifically, whether children who are transitioning between beliefs are more motivated (as compared to children who are more confidently rooted in their current beliefs) to seek information that will help them learn.