Help Evaluate the Discovery Center
Children's Social Reasoning
Some cognitive scientists study children in order to develop a better sense of how children perceive other people and how this might affect their interactions in the social world.
Fairness
Do children prefer fair outcomes?
Children learn to say, “that’s not fair,” from a young age, but often these declarations are self-serving. This study examines how children- aged 2.5 to 6 years- act when they can accept or reject fair and unfair offers
In this study, two unacquainted children play a game in which both receive stickers. One child plays the role of a “Decider”, who can accept or reject a division of stickers between themselves and the other child. The second child is with the experimenter and simply receives the stickers allocated to them.
The Decider must choose what to do in two types of trials. In ‘equal trials’, each child gets one sticker. In ‘unequal trials’, one child gets four stickers and the other child gets one. In some unequal trials, the Decider gets four stickers and the other child gets one, but in others the Decider gets one sticker and the other child gets four. If children truly prefer fair outcomes, the Deciders will accept all of the equal trials and reject all of the unequal trials.
We expect children to accept more of the Unequal trials when they receive more stickers and reject those trials where they receive less. However, younger children may ignore what the other child receives and accept all offers as long as they get one sticker.
This study may help us better understand how children learn what is, and is not, fair.
Learn about other research related to Children's Social Reasoning.
This research is conducted by the Cognitive Evolution Laboratory at Harvard University
Try it at the Museum
Fair Fishing
Observe your child interacting with his/her peers at the Water Table in the Discovery Center. Many children enjoy capturing fish with a plastic net at this exhibit.
When fishing, does your child share fish with others? How are fish divided between the different children who are playing? What distributions seem fair to your child?
What affects what your child considers fair? If s/he can catch the most fish, does your child think s/he deserves to hold them all?
Try it at Home
Playing Fair
When playing with their peers, children can often be uncertain about how much they should share of their own toys. Watch your child interact with a peer when playing in his/her own home.
How does your child share his/her toys with this visiting peer? Does your child’s sharing pattern change when visiting a peer’s home?
What seems to be your child’s idea of “fair play”?
How much should I share?
Create a story with your child about two friends who have to decide how to divide up stickers that they have found unexpectedly. Using stickers and dolls as props, have your child decide how many stickers each doll will get.
How many stickers does your child think each doll should receive?
If one doll gets more stickers than the other, how does your child justify dividing the stickers this way?
The Living Laboratory initiative is made possible through support from the National Science Foundation.