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. 2012;7(3):e33239.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033239. Epub 2012 Mar 8.

Children base their investment on calculated pay-off

Sophie Steelandt  1 , Valérie Dufour, Marie-Hélène Broihanne, Bernard Thierry
Affiliations

Children base their investment on calculated pay-off

Sophie Steelandt et al. PLoS One. 2012.

Abstract

To investigate the rise of economic abilities during development we studied children aged between 3 and 10 in an exchange situation requiring them to calculate their investment based on different offers. One experimenter gave back a reward twice the amount given by the children, and a second always gave back the same quantity regardless of the amount received. To maximize pay-offs children had to invest a maximal amount with the first, and a minimal amount with the second. About one third of the 5-year-olds and most 7- and 10-year-olds were able to adjust their investment according to the partner, while all 3-year-olds failed. Such performances should be related to the rise of cognitive and social skills after 4 years.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Number of sweets returned by children (n = 8 subjects per age group).
No 3-year-old children successfully adapted their strategy according to the quality of partners. At the age of 5, three subjects adapted their strategy according to the quality of partners. Seven subjects successfully adapted their strategy according to the quality of partners at the age of 7 and 10 respectively (Wilcoxon tests, n = 10). Each plot represents the mean number of sweets returned in one session of ten trials, along with standard errors.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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