Give some, keep some, put some: The language of sharing in children
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: • Language can strongly influence sharing in children, and social context can improve linguistic understanding. • 4-year-olds, but not 5-year-olds, where less generous when asked to keep a reward than when asked to give some. • A neutral verb, put , had no effect on sharing. • While children were able to interpret the scalar implicature some as meaning not all , 4-year-old children had a self-serving bias, and would often keep all of the stickers for themselves when asked to keep some of them. Sensitivity to linguistic cues, in theory, can change the interpretation of social and game theoretical behavior. We tested this in a pair of experiments with children aged 4 and 5 years. Children were asked to give some, keep some, or put some stickers for themselves or for another player (a puppet) after collaborative activities. We found that the direction of the verb did influence how selfish the younger children were. We also had children tidy up the toys after each activity to determine their interpretation of some. Children could derive the pragmatic scalar implicature linked to some (i.e., interpreting it as meaning not all ), and they did so particularly when it affected them personally. These findings have important implications for the stability of other-regarding preferences and the importance of instructions in games.
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,340
OpenAlex ID: W4402534603