Awareness and symbol use improves future-oriented decision making in preschoolers

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Development
• Developmental Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Decision-making skills develop throughout early childhood.
• Preschoolers (3.5 and 4.5 years old) are developing future-oriented decision-making abilities.
• The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) assesses decision-making under uncertainty.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the development of decision-making in preschoolers using a child-friendly version of the Iowa Gambling Task.
• To examine age-related differences in decision-making performance between 3.5- and 4.5-year-old children.
• To explore the influence of delay of gratification, labeling, and symbol use on children's decision-making.

Main Methods:

• 181 children (3.5 and 4.5 years old) participated in two experiments.
• Experiment 1: Assessed age differences and correlated IGT performance with a delay of gratification task.
• Experiment 2: Examined the impact of labeling decks (good/bad) and using symbols on IGT performance.

Main Results:

• Significant age differences in decision-making were observed, with older children performing better.
• IGT performance correlated with delay of gratification only in 3.5-year-olds.
• Labeling improved performance for 4.5-year-olds, while symbol use aided 3.5-year-olds who could label decks.

Conclusions:

• Preschoolers show developmental changes in future-oriented decision-making.
• Conscious awareness, symbol use, and labeling interact to influence advantageous decision-making in early childhood.
• These findings highlight the developing cognitive processes underlying decision-making in young children.