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. 2013 Jul-Aug;84(4):1253-68.
doi: 10.1111/cdev.12029. Epub 2012 Dec 13.

Informants' traits weigh heavily in young children's trust in testimony and in their epistemic inferences

Jonathan D Lane  1 , Henry M Wellman, Susan A Gelman
Affiliations

Informants' traits weigh heavily in young children's trust in testimony and in their epistemic inferences

Jonathan D Lane et al. Child Dev. 2013 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

This study examined how informants' traits affect how children seek information, trust testimony, and make inferences about informants' knowledge. Eighty-one 3- to 6-year-olds and 26 adults completed tasks where they requested and endorsed information provided by one of two informants with conflicting traits (e.g., honesty vs. dishonesty). Participants also completed tasks where they simultaneously considered informants' traits and visual access to information when inferring their knowledge and trusting their testimony. Children and adults preferred to ask and endorse information provided by people who are nice, smart, and honest. Moreover, these traits influenced the knowledge that young children attributed to informants. Children younger than 5 years of age reported that people with positive traits were knowledgeable even when they lacked access to relevant information.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of decisions to ask the positive-trait characters (smart, nice, and honest) for information, per age group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of decisions to endorse information provided by the positive-trait characters (smart, nice, and honest), per age group.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentage of children who chose to be friends with each of the characters, per age group.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Attributions of knowledge to the negative-trait characters, who had perceptual access to relevant information.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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