From Outcome to Process: A Developmental Shift in Judgments of Good Reasoning

• In Event: Knowing Right and Wrong: Intersections Between Sociomoral and Epistemic Reasoning

Abstract

What does it mean to reason well? One might argue that good reasoning means having correct beliefs: reaching the right conclusions. Alternatively, good reasoning might refer to the process of belief formation: following the right epistemic procedures. We investigated children’s (4-9-year- olds) and adults’ judgments of reasoning in China and the US (N=256).

In a picture book story, participants were introduced to two characters whose pet ran away and were trying to find the pet by using either a rational (e.g. looking for the pet's traces) or an irrational (e.g. using a spinning wheel) procedure that led them to either the right (pointing at the location where the pet is hiding) or the wrong conclusion (pointing at the location where the pet is not hiding).

The participants were exposed to three conditions: In the outcome condition, we tested whether children have a preference for an individual who holds a true over a false belief. In the process condition, we investigated whether participants have a preference for an individual who uses a rational over an irrational procedure. Finally, in the process-vs.-outcome condition, we pitted outcome against procedure to study whether participants prefer agents who use rational procedures but arrive at the wrong belief or agents who use irrational procedures but arrive at a true belief.

In the outcome condition, participants of all age groups favored agents who hold correct over incorrect beliefs (process was kept constant). In the process condition, participants favored agents who form their beliefs using valid over invalid procedures (outcome was kept constant). Interestingly, in the process-vs.-outcome condition developmental changes emerged. When we pitted outcome against process: young children weighed outcome more heavily than process; older children and adults showed the reverse preference. This pattern was constant across the two cultural contexts, with the switch from outcome to process happening earlier in development in China. These results suggest that children initially value what someone believes, but, with development, come to increasingly value how beliefs are formed.

Authors

• Hanna Schleihauf, Utrecht University
  Presenting Author

• Zhen Zhang, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

• Alissa Gomez

• Jan Engelmann, University of California - Berkeley