The cognitive mechanisms underlying selective learning in early childhood

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Young children are constantly exposed to new information about the world around them. Though they have a reputation to be gullible, research has demonstrated that even in the first few years of their lives young children can evaluate sources of information and selectively prefer to learn from some sources rather than others. This may be considered a very early form of critical thinking. The purpose of the current research is to explore the cognitive mechanisms underlying selective learning abilities, primarily in early childhood but also throughout development. In order to investigate this, two series of experiments will be conducted. A first series of experiments will investigate correlates and predictors of selective learning abilities in childhood and beyond. A first set of experiments will assess whether there are stable individual differences in selective learning abilities - in other words, whether children who tend to be savvy in one type of selective learning situation also show superior selective learning across other learning situations. If stable individual differences are found across different selective learning abilities, additional experiments will be conducted to examine what cognitive abilities predict these individual differences. Hypothesized predictors include theory of mind and executive function; the contributions of other abilities will also be evaluated. A second series of experiments, focusing on preschool-age children (ages 18 months to 5 years), will investigate the role of the ability to understand and attribute knowledge to individuals in children's selective trust. Preschoolers tend to prefer to trust individuals who show cues of knowledge, for instance having a history of providing accurate (rather than inaccurate) information, or verbal and nonverbal cues of confidence. Yet, it is unclear whether they understand the mental state of knowledge underlying these observable cues, and if so at what age they develop this understanding. To explore this, several studies will test whether children form expectations of knowledge or ignorance based on individuals' expressed knowledge cues. This program of research will fill a gap in the current literature on children's early learning skills and will advance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying important early critical thinking abilities. Findings from this work will help parents and education professionals develop ways of better scaffolding young children's early learning and development.