Using Behavioral Consensus to Learn about Social Conventions in Early Childhood
Wanying Zhao1, Andrew S Baron1, J K Hamlin1
1Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Frontiers in Psychology
|October 21, 2016
Summary
Children learn social conventions by observing behavior prevalence. While they increasingly use consensus like adults, they also learn from unconventional individuals in certain contexts.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Cognition
- Cultural Learning
Background:
- Adults infer social conventions from the prevalence of behaviors.
- Understanding how children learn cultural norms is crucial for development.
- Previous research indicates children prefer learning from consensus groups.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if children use behavioral consensus to identify social conventions.
- To determine if consensus influences children's choice of cultural models for learning.
- To explore contexts where children might prefer unconventional models.
Main Methods:
- Examined behavioral choices and learning preferences in 2- to 5-year-old children.
- Assessed children's sensitivity to behavioral consensus across different age groups.
- Compared learning from consensus versus unconventional individuals.
Main Results:
- Children show increased sensitivity to behavioral consensus with age.
- Young children use behavioral consensus to identify social conventions, similar to adults.
- Contrary to prior findings, children sometimes prefer and learn from unconventional individuals.
Conclusions:
- Children's use of behavioral consensus for identifying social conventions develops with age.
- Children's learning preferences are nuanced, extending beyond consensus-based choices.
- Findings suggest a more complex understanding of cultural learning in early development.
Keywords:
cultural learninginnovationselective learningsocial conventionssocial evaluationsocial groupsMore Related Videos
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