Host: The Japanese Society for Cognitive Psychology
This study examined young children’s information-seeking behavior for illness/injury by (1) identifying primary informants and (2) determining whether children’s evaluations of trusted informants change as they acquire domain knowledge of the illness. Study 1a, 1b, and 1c showed that 3- and 4-year-old children preferred mothers, teachers, and doctors, rather than other children or stuffed animals. When the task was about a rare animal’s illness, they preferred zookeepers, suggesting that children were discerning. In Study 2a and 2b, 4-, 7-, and 10-year-old children and adults were asked to indicate their preference of informants about contagious and non-contagious illnesses, and injuries between mothers, doctors, adult, and stuffed animals. The 4-year-olds always preferred mothers, while the 7- and 10-year-olds preferred doctors. Adults’ evaluations differed by type of illness and injury (Study 2b).
