Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 17, 2026

An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime
Published on: May 3, 2016
Dax gets the nod: toddlers detect and use social cues to evaluate testimony
1Graduate School of Education, Harvard University. Maria_Fusaro@mail.harvard.edu
Abstract:
Children ages 18 and 24 months were assessed for the ability to understand and learn from an adult's nonverbal expression of agreement and disagreement with a speaker's claims. In one type of communicative exchange, a speaker made 2 different claims about the identity or location of an object. The hearer nodded her head in agreement with one claim and shook her head in disagreement with the other claim. In a second type of exchange, the speaker asked 2 different questions about the identity or location of an object. The hearer nodded her head in response to one question and shook her head in response to the other. The 24-month-olds grasped the implication of these gestural responses, by inferring the correct name or location of the object. The 18-month-olds showed a limited grasp of their implications. Thus, in learning from others' testimony, toddlers focus not only on the claims of a single speaker but also on whether that information is accepted or rejected by another hearer. In particular, they detect and act on social cues of assent and dissent.
More Related Videos
14:05Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
06:51The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling
Published on: April 6, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Nonconscious Mimicry
Understanding Deception
Eyewitness Memory
One such error is memory distortion, which occurs because human memory does not function like a...
The Nativist Approach
Non-Verbal Cues
Confirmation Biases