Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80802 Munich, Germany; Cognitive Science Centre, University of Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80802 Munich, Germany.
J Exp Child Psychol. 2021 Apr;204:105035. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.105035. Epub 2020 Dec 16.
The relative efficiency of an action is a central criterion in action control and can be used to predict others' behavior. Yet, it is unclear when the ability to predict on and reason about the efficiency of others' actions develops. In three main and two follow-up studies, 3- to 6-year-old children (n = 242) were confronted with vignettes in which protagonists could take a short (efficient) path or a long path. Children predicted which path the protagonist would take and why the protagonist would take a specific path. The 3-year-olds did not take efficiency into account when making decisions even when there was an explicit goal, the task was simplified and made more salient, and children were questioned after exposure to the agent's action. Four years is a transition age for rational action prediction, and the 5-year-olds reasoned on the efficiency of actions before relying on them to predict others' behavior. Results are discussed within a representational redescription account.
行为的相对效率是行为控制的一个核心标准，可用于预测他人的行为。然而，目前尚不清楚预测和推理他人行为效率的能力何时发展。在三项主要研究和两项后续研究中，3 至 6 岁的儿童（n=242）接触了一些情景，其中主角可以选择走短（高效）路或长路。儿童预测主角会选择哪条路径，以及主角为什么会选择特定的路径。即使有明确的目标、任务简化且更突出，并且在接触主体的行为后对儿童进行了提问，3 岁的儿童在做决策时也没有考虑效率。4 岁是理性行为预测的过渡年龄，5 岁的儿童在依赖行为来预测他人行为之前，会对行为的效率进行推理。研究结果在代表性重述理论的框架内进行了讨论。
