Preschoolers' competence to use advice in everyday decision contexts.

When relying on the advice of others in decision making, one must consider the fact that advice-givers may vary in terms of predictive accuracy, that is, their history of being correct. We investigated 5- and 6-year-olds' competence in weighting advice in decision making according to predictive accuracy. Contrary to previous child decision research that draws a rather cautious picture on preschoolers' weighting competence, we created a child-friendly decision paradigm with an everyday context based on preparatory studies (e.g., observational study in daycare). In the role of the main character of an illustrated, interactive children's book, participants made a series of multiple-cue inference decisions during a daycare day. In each decision, they could ask for advice regarding two decision options from two advice-givers who differed in terms of predictive accuracy (p = .17 vs. p = .83). Contrary to previous findings in child decision research, many preschoolers prioritized the advice of the more accurate advice-giver and systematically used predictive accuracy as a decision weight for their choices in an everyday context. At the same time, preschoolers displayed difficulty in focusing their information search and often unnecessarily asked the less accurate advice-giver. We present our findings with respect to two contradictory research fields: child decision-making research and trust-in-informants research. Implications for decision-making theories are discussed.

From perception to inference: Utilization of probabilities as decision weights in children.

In a probabilistic inference task (three probabilistic cues predict outcomes for two options), we examined decisions from 233 children (5-6 vs. 9-10 years). Contiguity (low vs. high; i.e., position of probabilistic information far vs. close to options) and demand for selectivity (low vs. high; i.e., showing predictions of desired vs. desired and undesired outcomes) were varied as configural aspects of the presentation format. Probability utilization was measured by the frequency of following the predictions of the highest validity cue in choice. High contiguity and low demand for selectivity strongly and moderately increased probability utilization, respectively. Children are influenced by presentation format when using probabilities as decision weights. They benefit from perception-like presentations that present probabilities and options as compounds.

In Spiderman we trust: The influence of familiar media characters on the decision-making of primary school children.

Children are increasingly active consumers in the media world and are thus confronted with a wide range of information. Making good decisions in such an environment is a major challenge. Weighting valid information in decision-making is an important skill that children must learn and apply. Yet, how do children weight information and which weights do they use? We developed a measuring instrument for children's weighting of advices by cue validity - the so-called Space Treasure Hunt. It is an easy to understand, child-friendly decision game. By anchoring it in the reality of children's media lives, we are able to assess the influence of familiarity and affect on children's decision making. During a treasure hunt in game situated in outer space, children are confronted with various characters who provide contradictory advice regarding where to find treasures. One of the advice-givers was an expert (valid cue), whereas the other advice-giver varied in terms of its media familiarity and affect. In our study (N = 372), we found that media familiar characters had a strong influence on children's decision-making. Media idols showed an assimilation effect, meaning that children followed the expert's advice the least often when it contradicted their media idol. Conversely, media familiar but less liked characters showed a contrast effect, meaning that children followed the expert's advice most often when it contradicted the media familiar, less liked character. Moreover, we found differences between children in terms of a three-way split: One third of the children, respectively, systematically followed the expert's advice, the media idol, or made their decisions unsystematically. We discuss how our results indicate the use of different weights in children's decision making.

Lost in search: (Mal-)adaptation to probabilistic decision environments in children and adults.

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 (.17; .33, .83 vs. .50, .67, .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: .17-.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.