Warwick University, Coventry, UK.
Br J Dev Psychol. 2011 Nov;29(Pt 4):961-80. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-835X.2011.02036.x. Epub 2011 Apr 7.
In five experiments, we examined 3- to 6-year-olds' understanding that they could gain knowledge indirectly from someone who had seen something they had not. Consistent with previous research, children judged that an informant, who had seen inside a box, knew its contents. Similarly, when an informant marked a picture to indicate her suggestion as to the content of the box, 3- to 4-year-olds trusted this more frequently when the informant had seen inside the box than when she had not. Going beyond previous research, 3- to 4-year-olds were also sensitive to informants' relevant experience when they had to look over a barrier to see the marked picture, or ask for the barrier to be raised. Yet when children had to elicit the informant's suggestion, rather than just consult a suggestion already present, even 4- to 5-year-olds were no more likely to do so when the informant had seen the box's content than when she had not, and no more likely to trust the well-informed suggestion than the uninformed one. We conclude that young children who can ask questions may not yet fully understand the process by which they can gain accurate information from someone who has the experience they lack.
在五个实验中，我们考察了 3 至 6 岁儿童对于他们可以从见过他们未见过的事物的人那里间接获取知识的理解。与之前的研究一致，儿童判断一个知情者，她看到了盒子里面的东西，就知道盒子里的内容。同样地，当一个知情者标记一幅画以表示她对盒子内容的建议时，3 至 4 岁的儿童在知情者看过盒子里面的东西时比没有看过时更频繁地信任这种建议。超越之前的研究，当 3 至 4 岁的儿童不得不越过障碍看标记的图片，或者要求把障碍物抬起来时，他们也会对知情者的相关经验敏感。然而，当儿童不得不引出知情者的建议，而不是仅仅参考已经存在的建议时，即使是 4 至 5 岁的儿童也不太可能在知情者看过盒子的内容时这样做，而且不太可能像信任知情者的建议一样信任不知情者的建议。我们的结论是，那些能够提问的幼儿可能还没有完全理解他们可以从缺乏经验的人那里获得准确信息的过程。
