From Retrospective to Prospective Reciprocity

• In Event: The Different Faces of Generous Giving: Children’s Understanding of Generalized, Strategic, and Corrupt Reciprocity

Abstract

Reciprocity is an important mechanism for cooperation because it can create mutual benefits for social partners who interact repeatedly. Theoretical models make clear predictions when reciprocity is beneficial, but little is known about the underlying psychological processes. Developmental studies can provide insight into the mechanisms that are required for different types of reciprocity, such as the ability to anticipate future reciprocation to elicit cooperation over repeated interactions. I will summarize a series of studies to assess the hypothesis that children progress from more naïve to more strategic cooperation, initially cooperating at similar levels with cooperators and defectors while learning over development to cooperate more selectively depending on the behavior of a social partner. Moreover, I will advance the hypothesis that a general cognitive ability to plan for the future is a critical component to move from retrospective to prospective reciprocity, allowing children to override their immediate interests in light of a larger future payoff.

First, I summarize studies on children’s ability to engage in retrospective reciprocity, showing that children at 2-3 years of age are initially overly trusting and cooperate even with defectors (Rosati et al, 2019; Warneken & Tomasello, 2013) and then learn to selectively cooperate when others are cooperative and trustworthy. These studies highlight children’s initial assumption of cooperativeness and their increasing selectivity in making cooperative decisions.

I will proceed to studies on prospective reciprocity where children have to decide whether to cooperate in the present in anticipation of subsequent reciprocation. Between 3 and 5 years of age, children become more likely to share in the present to elicit future reciprocation from a social partner in a sharing task (Sebastian-Enesco & Warneken, 2015) and 7-year-olds, but not 3-year-olds strategically share valuable resources in the present to be chosen as a social partner later (Warneken et al., 2019). Here I present studies that aim to detect the cognitive processes that might explain this developmental change.

In one study with a total of N=72 children of 3, 4, and 5 years-of-age (n=24 per age), we measured children’s contingent reciprocation in a sharing task and assessed their cognitive abilities with a test battery of future-directed thinking, delay of gratification, theory of mind and verbal intelligence. Results show major developmental changes in children’s ability to reciprocate between 3 and 4-5 years of age, with older but not younger children selectively sharing when partners reciprocate. Preliminary findings show that future-directed thinking is predictive of children’s reciprocal behavior, indicating that this general cognitive ability is a prerequisite for prospective reciprocation.

In a second completed study with a total of N=48 children at 4 and 5 years-of-age (n=24 per age), we used the same test battery to assess the cognitive prerequisites for children to engage in prospective reciprocation in a partner-choice situation. Here, children can decide whether to share a more or less valuable resource with a social partner to solicit their reciprocation. Based on preregistered analyses, we will assess the hypothesis that future-directed thinking and theory-of-mind are predictive of this sophisticated form of reciprocity.

Author

• Felix Warneken, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
  Presenting Author