Introduction
New research (2022) by Stefanie Lindow and Tilmann Betsch published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology shows that preschoolers weigh advice when making decisions. The findings show that preschoolers ask help from people they learn give accurate advice (what the study calls predictive accuracy for choice).
Developmental Beliefs
Lindow and Betsch’s findings challenge developmental research that states weighing advice is a competency that develops later in childhood and is often an area of trouble for older children (p.13). They also challenge former conclusions that suggest preschoolers take advice from people they trust, rather than weighing the quality of the advice being given.
The Research Setting
A total of forty 5-6 year old children from two daycare centres in a middle class, moderately large German city participated in the study. The children experienced five decision-making tasks along the course of their daycare day. Through storytelling, the children were introduced to advice-givers in a book and the children responded to the question ‘‘who could help you more often” when faced with decision-making tasks.
How Preschoolers Make Decisions
On average, 89% of the time, preschoolers asked the more accurate advice-giver for help with decision-making (p.11).
A substantial portion of preschoolers followed the advice of the more accurate advice-giver (p.12), showing the they systematically considered their prior experience with that person to weigh the advice given.
The study shows that preschoolers also asked advice of the less accurate advice-giver, gathering significant amounts of information before making their decision.
As Lindow and Betsch state, “This is remarkable in light of previous research” (p.13).
Conclusion
This new research shows that preschoolers make choices based on the information they gather. They asked both advice-givers for help, and were able to assess the weight of competence in the information.
“Thus, the leading question of future research, should no longer be from what age are children competent decision makers. Instead, we should ask under which conditions children show competence at each age.”
Additional reading on this topic from a trusted source:
Helping Kids Make Decisions by Gia Miller at the Child Mind Institute.
