Lost in Search: (Mal-)Adaptation to Probabilistic Decision Environments in Children and Adults

Autor/inn/en	Betsch, Tilmann; Lehmann, Anne; Lindow, Stefanie; Lang, Anna; Schoemann, Martin
Titel	Lost in Search: (Mal-)Adaptation to Probabilistic Decision Environments in Children and Adults
Quelle	In: Developmental Psychology, 52 (2016) 2, S.311-325 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0012-1649
DOI	10.1037/dev0000077
Schlagwörter	Adjustment (to Environment); Children; Adults; Decision Making; Probability; Behavior; Selection; Age Differences; Elementary School Students; Preschool Children; Foreign Countries; Path Analysis; Germany + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Child; Kind; Kinder; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung; Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorie; Auslese; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Pre-school age; Preschool age; Children; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Vorschulalter; Vorschulkind; Vorschulkinder; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Ausland; Pfadanalyse; Deutschland
Abstract	Adaptive decision making in probabilistic environments requires individuals to use probabilities as weights in predecisional information searches and/or when making subsequent choices. Within a child-friendly computerized environment (Mousekids), we tracked 205 children's (105 children 5-6 years of age and 100 children 9-10 years of age) and 103 adults' (age range: 21-22 years) search behaviors and decisions under different probability dispersions (0.17; 0.33, 0.83 vs. 0.50, 0.67, 0.83) and constraint conditions (instructions to limit search: "yes" vs. "no"). All age groups limited their depth of search when instructed to do so and when probability dispersion was high (range: 0.17-0.83). Unlike adults, children failed to use probabilities as weights for their searches, which were largely not systematic. When examining choices, however, elementary school children (unlike preschoolers) systematically used probabilities as weights in their decisions. This suggests that an intuitive understanding of probabilities and the capacity to use them as weights during integration is not a sufficient condition for applying simple selective search strategies that place one's focus on weight distributions. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01