Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: = 121) repeated choice behavior in a child-friendly probability learning task. We implemented two static and one ecologically plausible statistical environment as between-subjects conditions. Behavioral and computational modeling analyses provided converging evidence for perseveration tendencies in 3- to 4-year-olds and adaptive choice diversification from age 6 years onward. On average, school-aged children showed a stronger tendency for exploration, whereas adults were better able to overcome this tendency in favor of exploitation. Our findings emphasize the importance of implementing ecologically plausible task environments in research on cognitive development and contribute a novel repeated choice perspective to the discussion on the adaptive functions of wide exploration in childhood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
DOI: 10.1037/xge0001747
Authors: Anna I. Thoma, Ben R. Newell, Christin Schulze
Institutions: Max Planck Institute for Human Development, UNSW Sydney
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4409064595