Poster #194 - Children recognize but do not use the principle of economic demand for own choices

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Social Cognition

Integrative Statement

Children’s economic understanding emerges during middle childhood (e.g. Siegler & Thompson, 2000), but less is known about whether and how children use specific supply and demand principles. We investigated 7-10-year-old children’s understanding of resource demand, and to what extent they use demand principles to make decisions about which resource to choose for themselves. In experiments 1 (n=18) and 2 (n=18), we showed children two boxes containing different numbers of face-down stickers. One box always contained fewer stickers than the other. We told children that each box contained a different type of sticker, and that other children had visited the lab earlier, had gotten to see which stickers were in each box, and had gotten to choose a sticker to take home. Children were then asked to choose which box they wanted to take a sticker from (Resource Selection) by either buying it with a token (experiment 1) or trading a sticker they were given at the beginning of the experiment (experiment 2) (see Figure 1). Children were also asked which box the other children preferred (Demand Comprehension). In both experiments, children correctly selected the box with fewer stickers when asked the Demand Comprehension question (Exp. 1: 100%, Exp. 2: 94%; chance = 50%), but selected the boxes equally when choosing a sticker for themselves (Exp. 1: 42%; Exp. 2: 61%; chance = 50%; all ps n.s., no difference between experiments; Figure 2). In experiment 3, we asked whether we could induce children to use demand principles by giving them additional cues about whether the other children were reliable sources of information about the desirability of a resource. We first showed children (n=34) full boxes of face-down stickers and said other children had seen the stickers, and all had reported that one box contained better stickers than the other. We told children which box the children preferred, then showed them the stickers in both boxes. In the reliable condition, the preferred box contained colorful star stickers, while the other box contained only plain white stickers. In the unreliable condition, the opposite was true. Test then proceeded as in experiments 1 and 2. We predicted that, if children were able integrate reliability information into their own choices, children in the reliable condition should choose the box with fewer stickers (higher demand box), while children in the unreliable condition should avoid that box. However, while children again demonstrated that they understood which box was in higher demand (Demand Comprehension: 100%, chance = 50%), children in both conditions selected the boxes equally when choosing a resource for themselves (reliable: 56%; unreliable: 47%; chance = 50%, all ps n.s.; no difference between conditions; Figure 2). Additional comprehension questions confirmed that children’s performance was not due to confusion about informant reliability. Together, these results suggest that children are indeed sensitive to cues about resource demand – they can infer which resource other children preferred based on differences in resource supply. However, children do not reliably use this information to choose a resource for themselves.

Authors

• Alexis S. Smith, Johns Hopkins University
  Presenting Author

• Jessica R. Beal, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Peter R Blake, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Melissa M. Kibbe, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author