Children’s decision making: the effects of training, reinforcement, and memory aids

Abstract

Previous research on children’s decision making [Cogn. Dev. 6 (1991a) 77] has found that, unlike older children and adults, young children are frequently unable to eliminate an alternative as soon as it is clear that it is unsuitable. More precisely, young children have difficulty ignoring irrelevant information and attending to relevant information when examining alternatives. The present study explored whether children’s tendency to ignore relevant information is due to the saliency of that information, the child’s lack of motivation, or memory limitations of the child. To test these hypotheses, 197 second and fifth graders were divided into four groups: a training group designed to overcome saliency concerns, a reinforcement group designed to overcome motivation problems, a marking group designed to overcome memory limitations, and a control group. Children in the training and reinforcement groups examined less irrelevant information than did children in the control group; however, marking unsuitable alternatives did not improve children’s performance. This left the role of memory unclear. Additionally, verbal skill level was related to the number of irrelevant items examined for all children, but accounted for a minimal amount of variance.