Abstract
Some research suggests infants display a tendency to judge others’ prosocial behavior, and in particular, that infants show a strong preference for prosocial others. For example, data from one frequently cited and well-publicized study showed that, after watching a puppet show with three puppets, 74% of infants chose the puppet that “helped” rather than the puppet that “hindered” a third puppet from attaining its goal. The purpose of the current investigation was to replicate these methods and extend them by including a within-subject measure of infant puppet choice across repeated trials to assess the stability of infants’ choice. In the current study, 20 infants viewed a puppet show and chose between two puppets (i.e., helper or hinderer) immediately following the puppet show. Although results were similar to previously published work on the first-choice trial (65% of infants chose the helper puppet on the first trial), infants did not consistently choose the helper across trials; several infants demonstrated a side preference, with 9 infants almost exclusively choosing puppets presented on the right or left side. The current investigation addressed limitations of previous research by including a between-subjects (replication) as well as a within-subjects (extension) repeated measure of choice that allowed for the examination of the stability of the choice measure. Our results, particularly in light of other failed replications, raise questions regarding the robustness of infants’ preference for prosocial others and the reliability and validity of the single-choice paradigm.
Highlights
A recent line of research suggests infants as young as 5 months old [1,2,3,4,5] and older infants and toddlers [6,7,8] are capable of socially evaluating others’ behavior, and show a strong preference for prosocial others
The helper puppet assists the focal puppet with the task at hand, and the hinderer puppet interferes with the same task
We examined the number of infants who chose the helper puppet on the first trial, akin to the results reported by Hamlin and Wynn [2], as well as the number of infants who chose the puppet on the right side on the first trial
Summary
A recent line of research suggests infants as young as 5 months old [1,2,3,4,5] and older infants and toddlers [6,7,8] are capable of socially evaluating others’ behavior, and show a strong preference for prosocial others. In a typical experimental arrangement, an infant first views a staged scene in which a focal puppet attempts to do something such as climb a hill or open a box containing a toy. As the focal puppet attempts to open the lid of a box, the helper puppet moves in and helps lift the lid open [2]. On a different trial the hinderer moves in and forcefully closes the lid. Variations on this basic scenario include colored shapes with eyes trying to climb a hill and being helped or hindered by other shapes [1]. Infants who choose the “helper” puppet are described as preferring the prosocial other
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