Does pretend play help children learn about cause and effect?

Young children often play by pretending, but does this kind of play also help them learn? In this study, we’re interested in finding out how children use their imagination to help them understand cause and effect relationships in new situations.

When do children over-imitate?

Children learn many rules from adults about the way things are done in their society, and will often repeat actions they see others perform to reach a goal. Some actions are necessary for the goal and others are not. This study asks: are there circumstances when children are more likely to over-imitate actions (i.e. repeat everything that they see) to reach a goal?

Is learning affected by the kinds of evidence generated during play?

Preschool children may be able to learn causal relationships from small amounts of evidence. This study examined how children learn new theories without any previous knowledge, and how quickly this learning can take place.

Does imitating an adult’s actions limit children’s spontaneous exploration during play?

It is no surprise that children learn quickly by watching others, but previous research had shown that children are also good at spontaneously generating their own evidence during play.

This study asked: how do children’s desires to imitate a teacher affect their ability to learn on their own during play?

How do children's explanations affect their beliefs about the world?

This study examined how children's explanations may help them learn about other people's minds. We used a "false belief task", which explored whether children understand that a person can hold a belief about the world that is not true.

What conditions allow toddlers to learn cause and effect relationships?

Toddlers may be able to learn two events are associated, but toddlers may not understand that they can act on objects to produce an effect. This study considered whether toddlers use cues from adults to understand cause and effect relationships.

How does an object’s name affect children’s expectations during play?

This study asked: Do children explore more when the evidence they see conflicts with their assumptions about the physical properties of an object, based on the name the object is called?

How do children’s theories about the world affect their play?

This study investigated whether children who have different theories will choose to play with the same toy in different ways.

Do children play more when evidence is not clear?

It is widely believed that children learn by playing, but how does this happen?

This study asked: do children play in more diverse ways with a toy when it is not clear which cause, among several possible causes, makes the toy 'go'.

Do children think about probability in the same ways that adults do?

Research has shown that adults prefer the simplest explanation with the fewest causes to explanations that are more probable, but more complex. This study asked: do children use the same reasoning?