Children successfully use external cues as a cognitive strategy in an unsolvable memory task but demonstrate...

Cognitive offloading refers to the process of using aids to reduce the cognitive demands of a task. A simple type of offloading-like behavior involves using cues in the environment to later aid in making a correct choice or response when this would otherwise be difficult or even impossible. This project assessed children's ability for spontaneous creation of this type of cognitive strategy use. Children three to nine years old first participated in a task that produced uncertainty surrounding the future location of a preferred toy. Children assigned different toys to four opaque cups, one of which was uniquely colored, before the cups were mixed and re-presented. To guarantee success, children had to place their preferred toy in the uniquely colored cup. Otherwise, they would have to select among three identical cups with no information about where the preferred item was hidden. No instructions were provided initially about where to place items, allowing children to formulate their own approach. Children demonstrated high levels of proficiency. Although age was not a strong indicator of overall performance, older children reached the criterion for proficiency more quickly than younger children. Children also decreased their likelihood of making errors with increased experience. However, subsequent variations of the task showed that preschool age children struggled to set up the game in such a way that an optimal strategy could be implemented. This suggests the possible lack of awareness of why a strategy works to make a task solvable and ensure success at this age.