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Being the third wheel: Toddlers use bystander learning to acquire cue-specific valence knowledge
Bridget L Callaghan1, Tricia Choy2, Kaitlin O'Sullivan3
1Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|March 11, 2022
Summary
Toddlers learn danger cues from observing others, a process called bystander learning. This learning is specific to the cue and retained for weeks, even when the child
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Learning Theory
- Cognitive Development
Background:
- Observing others is a crucial method for infants and toddlers to learn about safety and danger.
- Bystander learning, or emotional eavesdropping, allows young children to gather information indirectly.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the specificity and retention of bystander learning in toddlers.
- To examine how toddlers learn emotional valence associated with specific cues through observation.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted with toddlers involving observing adult interactions regarding toys.
- Toddlers' toy choices were assessed immediately and two weeks after observation, both for themselves and for others.
Main Results:
- Toddlers learned to avoid a toy (Toy A) after witnessing an adult admonishment, retaining this learning for two weeks.
- When choosing for someone else, toddlers showed less consistent avoidance of the warned toy, but engaged in social monitoring.
Conclusions:
- Toddlers demonstrate cue-specific discriminant learning through social observation.
- Personal risk influences how toddlers utilize bystander learning, with social monitoring indicating attempts to gather more safety information indirectly.
Keywords:
Child developmentDiscriminationEmotional eavesdroppingMemory retentionObservational learningThreat conditioningMore Related Videos
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