Work

A key to innovation: When do children begin to recognize and manufacture solutions to future problems?

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: = 89, 41 girls) where the future- and present-task tubes were identical. This pattern suggests that older children had the future task in mind when making their tools. Children's propensity to construct longer tools in Experiment 2a was associated with their capacity to prepare for two alternative possibilities on a secondary task, suggesting performance reflects emerging future-oriented cognition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Source: Developmental Psychology

DOI: 10.1037/dev0001926

Authors: Zoe Ockerby, Jonathan Redshaw, Thomas Suddendorf

Institution: The University of Queensland

Language: English

Topic: Child and Animal Learning Development

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Australian Research Council

Award: Gaining control of the future: The cognitive development of foresight