Who Knows What? Influences on and Consequences of Beliefs about Competence in Children

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

As children navigate their social world, there is a nearly constant need to evaluate themselves and others as they integrate and update their own knowledge. This symposium addresses cues used to inform beliefs about competence, influences on these beliefs, and potential consequences of these beliefs generally and in specific domains in preschool and elementary-aged children.

In the first paper, the authors discuss children’s use of confidence as a cue to discern competence compared to other cues that can convey knowledge such as pro-sociality and accuracy. They also consider developmental trends and other attributions associated with confidence.

In the second paper, the authors examine children’s gendered beliefs about confidence and competence. They find that children consider males to be more competent and more confident than females, but do not necessarily believe that females are incompetent or not confident.

In the third paper, the authors discuss how receiving help on a task impacts young children. They suggest that receiving help may signal beliefs about competence (or a lack thereof) resulting in adverse effects on task perception and motivation.

In the fourth paper, the authors investigate how teachers’ beliefs about competence in a specific domain – science - influence children’s beliefs about who can succeed in science and children’s own engagement with science.

Taken together, this symposium sheds light on cues children use in evaluating competence and demonstrates that beliefs about competence can have a range of negative impacts. These findings have significant implications for understanding children’s performance, motivation, and beliefs during social learning.

Sub Unit

• Social Cognition

Chair

• Lindsey Hildebrand, Boston College

Individual Presentations

• Confidence May be Key, but What Else? Preschool- and Young School-age Children's Interpretation of Confidence - Presenting Author: Sophie Fobert, Université d'Ottawa; Non-Presenting Author: Aimie-Lee Juteau, University of Ottawa; Non-Presenting Author: Patricia E Brosseau-Liard, University of Ottawa

• Children’s Gendered Beliefs About Confidence and Competence - Presenting Author: Lindsey Hildebrand, Boston College; Non-Presenting Author: Lesenia Fish, Boston College; Non-Presenting Author: Sara Cordes, Boston College

• How Receiving Help Affects Children’s Competence Beliefs and Task Motivation - Presenting Author: Kristin Shutts, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Non-Presenting Author: Jellie Sierksma, Utrecht University; Non-Presenting Author: Bailey Immel, University of California - Santa Barbara

• The Role of Teachers’ Beliefs and Language on Pre-kindergarten Children’s Beliefs About Who Can Succeed in Science - Presenting Author: Michelle Wang, New York University; Non-Presenting Author: Amanda Cardarelli, New York University; Non-Presenting Author: Marjorie Rhodes, New York University