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Published on: April 19, 2017
Infants Use Others' Inconsistent Choices to Make Preference Attributions
Youjung Choi1, Rylie Putrich2, Kristy vanMarle3
1School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences, Southern Illinois University, 1125 Lincoln Drive, Carbondale, Illinois 62901, USA.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|May 14, 2026
Summary
Eight-and-a-half-month-old infants infer preferences from inconsistent choices. They attribute preference when the unique choice is first, but not when it is last, showing early probabilistic reasoning.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Development
- Infant Psychology
- Social Cognition
Background:
- Understanding how infants develop the ability to interpret others' actions and infer their mental states is crucial.
- Early research suggests infants are sensitive to social cues, but the nuances of preference attribution based on choice patterns are less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether 8.5-month-old infants can infer an agent's preference based on inconsistent choices.
- To examine the role of temporal order and inconsistency in infant preference attribution.
Main Methods:
- Infants were presented with an agent making a series of choices between two toys (A and B).
- Two conditions were tested: the unique choice presented first (ABBBB) and last (AAAAB).
- Infant looking times and behavioral responses were measured to assess preference attribution.
Main Results:
- Infants attributed a preference to the agent when the unique choice was presented first (ABBBB).
- Infants did not attribute a preference when the unique choice was presented last (AAAAB).
- This suggests infants integrate temporal information and inconsistency to infer preferences.
Conclusions:
- 8.5-month-old infants can use inconsistent choice patterns to attribute preferences.
- The temporal order of inconsistent information significantly impacts infant inference.
- These findings highlight infants' early capacity for probabilistic reasoning and understanding social cues.
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