The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
Br J Dev Psychol. 2011 Sep;29(Pt 3):504-23. doi: 10.1348/026151010X521394. Epub 2011 Feb 3.
This study investigated developmental differences in children's explanations of the intentions underlying the behaviours of others, including behaviours that conflicted with their expectations. Children aged 6-13 and adults explained the intentions underlying their predictions of behaviour following stories with ambiguous, positive, and negative cues. Children were then presented with experimenter-provided conflicting behaviour and explained again. Results indicated that with no clear cues, children and adults had optimistic expectations. When cues were provided, participants across development provided explanations consistent with positive cues, but children under age 10 were reluctant to provide explanations consistent with negative cues, despite good recall. When explaining conflicting behaviour, people may hesitate to overlook suspicions of negative intent sometimes even in the face of good behaviour, and this reluctance may increase with age. Findings suggest we may all overcome an optimistic bias, but children under age 10 may struggle more to do so.
本研究调查了儿童对他人行为意图的解释在发展上的差异，包括与他们的预期相冲突的行为。6-13 岁的儿童和成年人根据带有模糊、积极和消极线索的故事，解释了他们对行为预测的意图。然后，向儿童呈现实验者提供的冲突行为，并再次进行解释。结果表明，在没有明确线索的情况下，儿童和成年人的期望是乐观的。当提供线索时，不同年龄段的参与者都提供了与积极线索一致的解释，但 10 岁以下的儿童不太愿意提供与消极线索一致的解释，尽管他们能很好地回忆起线索。在解释冲突行为时，人们可能会犹豫是否忽视对负面意图的怀疑，有时即使面对良好的行为也是如此，而且这种犹豫可能会随着年龄的增长而增加。研究结果表明，我们都可能克服乐观偏见，但 10 岁以下的儿童可能更难做到这一点。
