Child Decision-Making: On the Burden of Predecisional Information Search

Autor/inn/en	Lindow, Stefanie; Betsch, Tilmann
Titel	Child Decision-Making: On the Burden of Predecisional Information Search
Quelle	In: Journal of Cognition and Development, 19 (2018) 2, S.137-164 (28 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Lindow, Stefanie)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1524-8372
DOI	10.1080/15248372.2018.1436057
Schlagwörter	Decision Making; Children; Information Seeking; Adults; Comparative Analysis; Age Differences; Child Development; Foreign Countries; Statistical Analysis; Germany + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Child; Kind; Kinder; Informationserschließung; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Kindesentwicklung; Ausland; Statistische Analyse; Deutschland
Abstract	In many decision situations, individuals must actively search information before they can make a satisfying choice. In such instances, individuals must be aware of the fact that not all information may be equally relevant for the choice at hand--thus, individuals should weight information by its respective relevance. We compared children's and adult's decision-making in a child-friendly decision game. For each decision, participants received information on the content of 3 piggy banks on an information-board. In Experiment 1, we manipulated the weight-structure by presenting decisions with similarly relevant or differently relevant information. Results suggested that 8- to 9-year-olds did not adapt their search to the weight-structure. In contrast, 10- to 12-year-olds did consider relevance weights. Still, 8- to 9-year-olds and 10- to 12-year-olds were unable to search for a good, adultlike information sample containing all relevant and no irrelevant information. Thus, children based their decisions on a biased information sample. In Experiment 2, we intensified the need to consider relevance weights by introducing a search constraint. In doing so, we replicated the deficits of 8- to 9-year-olds and found adultlike behavior in 11- to 12-year-olds. Our findings suggest that although children understand that relevance may vary, they are not immediately able to effectively consider relevance weights in their information search--which appears to be a skill that continues to develop throughout childhood. We discuss the resulting implications for understanding children as decision makers as well as the general ability to perform structured information search. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01