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March 26, 2026Child Development

Young children strategically adapt to unreliable social partners

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Authors

KSKatherine Adams ShannonPalo Alto UniversityACAneesa Conine-NakanoStanford UniversityWFWillem E. FrankenhuisInstitute for Biodiversity

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Implication

Four studies demonstrate how children adjust their help-seeking behavior based on social partner reliability, suggesting adaptive learning strategies.

Key Points

  • The research explores how children adapt their learning strategies based on the reliability of help from social partners.
  • Conducted four preregistered experiments with U.S. 4-6-year-olds.
  • Examined children's task choice and help-seeking behavior.
  • Compared responses to reliable versus unreliable assistance.
  • Analyzed exploration of a novel toy based on previous experiences with help.
  • Children chose tasks based on the perceived reliability of help received.
  • Unreliable assistance led to increased help-seeking behavior.
  • Some children avoided challenging tasks as an adaptive response to prior unreliability.

Cite This Study

Shannon et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69c4cd80fdc3bde448919ebchttps://doi.org/10.1093/chidev/aacag012
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