Young Children Choose to Inform Previously Knowledgeable Others

Abstract

Children recognize that people who know more are better informants than those who know less. How does an individual’s prior knowledge affect children’s decisions about whom to inform? In 3 experiments, 3- to 6-year-old children were invited to share a novel piece of information with 1 of 2 potential recipients who differed in their recent history of knowledge. Children tended to inform the previously knowledgeable person rather than the previously ignorant person. This same effect was observed in a 4th experiment when the knowledgeable person stated that she already knew the information the participant had to share. In no case was the opposite pattern observed: Children never chose to inform the person who had known less. These results seem to conflict with equity considerations and may reflect a preference to affiliate with competent social partners.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Ashley Jordan for assistance with data collection; Kristina Olson and Katherine Kinzler for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript; Katie Kennedy and Casey Lew-Williams for allowing us to record their voices; and Elizabeth Brey, Annie Riggs, Lauren Huckstadt, Amy Klazkin, Renee Kramer, Jasmine Morano, and Rory Raasch for serving as actors in the experiments.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by internal grants from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to KS. Infrastructure support was provided by the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, through the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P30HD03352).

Notes on contributors

Sunae Kim

Sunae Kim is now in the Department of Psychology at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany. Kara Weisman is now in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University. Marissa V. Johnson is now in the Department of Education at the University of North Carolina–Charlotte.