Children's Selective Teaching and Informing: A Meta-Analysis

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Social Learning Theory

Background:

• Empirical studies suggest children adjust teaching based on audience helpfulness.
• Selective informing and teaching are key aspects of social learning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the effect of selective informing and teaching in 2-7-year-olds.
• To examine the relationship between information helpfulness and transmission frequency.

Main Methods:

• Systematic search yielding 1483 results, with 28 studies (104 effect sizes, N=2716) included.
• Meta-analysis using robust variance estimation.

Main Results:

• A medium average effect (Hedges' g = 0.578) indicates children selectively share information based on perceived listener helpfulness.
• Age and communicative context were significant moderators; children were more informative when teaching.
• A developmental progression was observed at age 4, with older children showing selective sharing.

Conclusions:

• Young children actively engage in selective social learning, both as givers and receivers of information.
• Findings support and extend natural pedagogy theory, highlighting children's selective informing when teaching.
• Selective information sharing in children is linked to the development of false-belief understanding around age 4.