About the project
From an early age, children show a remarkable ability to acquire information and learn from their surroundings—they observe what other people do, they listen to the stories they are told, and they explore different objects.
Most of the information children encounter will be coherent and fit with their existing understanding of the world. However, at one point or another, they are bound to come across situations where they are faced with information that conflicts with their prior knowledge—leaving them uncertain of what to believe. For example, when children hear conflicting claims from trusted sources like their best friend and their favorite YouTuber, what do they do? And how do prior experiences influence their behaviors?
Children’s responses to situations of epistemic uncertainty are likely affected by both their individual capacities as well as the affordances of their social environment. Ultimately, their inquiring behaviors and ability to deal with uncertainties impacts their development and learning more generally.
Our objectives
Across the different studies in this project, we have three overarching aims:
- Investigate developmental changes in children’s propensity to question the information they encounter.
- Assess the role of different parenting practices on this development.
- Explore the impact of children’s inquiring behaviors on their development and learning.