The effect of taxing situations on preschool children’s responses to peer conflict

Developing conceptions of forgiveness across the lifespan

Understanding how to respond to transgressions is central to cooperation, yet little is known about how individuals understand the consequences of these responses. Accordingly, the current study explored children's (ages 5-9), adolescents' (ages 11-14), and adults' (N = 544, predominantly White, ~50% female, tested in 2021) understandings of three such responses-forgiveness, punishment, and doing nothing. At all ages, participants differentiated between the consequences of these three responses. Forgiveness was associated with more positive and fewer negative outcomes, while the opposite was true for punishment and doing nothing. With age, participants were less likely to expect positive outcomes, and this effect was strongest for punishment and doing nothing. The results of this study allow novel insights into reasoning about three important response strategies.

Don't throw the associative baby out with the Bayesian bathwater: Children are more associative when reasoning retrospectively under information processing demands

Causal reasoning is a fundamental cognitive ability that enables individuals to learn about the complex interactions in the world around them. However, the mechanisms that underpin causal reasoning are not well understood. For example, it remains unresolved whether children's causal inferences are best explained by Bayesian inference or associative learning. The two experiments and computational models reported here were designed to examine whether 5- and 6-year-olds will retrospectively reevaluate objects-that is, adjust their beliefs about the causal status of some objects presented at an earlier point in time based on the observed causal status of other objects presented at a later point in time-when asked to reason about 3 and 4 objects and under varying degrees of information processing demands. Additionally, the experiments and models were designed to determine whether children's retrospective reevaluations were best explained by associative learning, Bayesian inference, or some combination of both. The results indicated that participants retrospectively reevaluated causal inferences under minimal information-processing demands (Experiment 1) but failed to do so under greater information processing demands (Experiment 2) and that their performance was better captured by an associative learning mechanism, with less support for descriptions that rely on Bayesian inference. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Five- and 6-year-old children engage in retrospective reevaluation under minimal information-processing demands (Experiment 1). Five- and 6-year-old children do not engage in retrospective reevaluation under more extensive information-processing demands (Experiment 2). Across both experiments, children's retrospective reevaluations were better explained by a simple associative learning model, with only minimal support for a simple Bayesian model. These data contribute to our understanding of the cognitive mechanisms by which children make causal judgements.

Interactive Virtual Reality versus Vignette-Based Assessment of Children's Aggressive Social Information Processing

This study examined whether interactive Virtual Reality (VR) provides a more ecologically valid assessment of children’s aggressive social information processing (SIP) and aggressive responses than a standard vignette-based assessment. We developed a virtual classroom where children could meet and play games with virtual peers. Participants were boys (N = 184; ages 7–13) from regular education and special education for children with disruptive behavior problems. They reported on their SIP in four scenarios (i.e., two instrumental gain and two provocation scenarios) presented through both interactive VR and vignettes. Teachers reported on children’s real-life aggressive behavior and reactive and proactive motives for aggression. Results demonstrated that children found the interactive VR assessment more emotionally engaging and immersive than the vignette-based assessment. Moreover, compared to vignettes, the interactive VR assessment evoked higher levels of aggressive SIP and responses in provocation scenarios only. Results supported the enhanced predictive validity of the interactive VR assessment of children’s aggressive SIP and responses, which predicted children’s real-life aggression above and beyond the vignette-based assessment with 2 to 12% additional explained variance. Similar results were found for children’s real-life reactive and proactive motives for aggression, with 3 to 12% additional variance explained by interactive VR above and beyond vignettes. Interactive VR did not, however, evoke larger individual differences (i.e., variances) in children’s aggressive SIP and responses than vignettes. Together, these findings suggest that interactive VR provides a more ecologically valid method to assess children’s aggressive SIP and responses than hypothetical vignettes.

Interactive virtual reality assessment of aggressive social information processing in boys with behaviour problems: A pilot study

Children's aggressive behaviour is partly determined by how they process social information (e.g., making hostile interpretations or aiming to seek revenge). Such aggressive social information processing (SIP) may be most evident if children are emotionally engaged in actual social interactions. Current methods to assess aggressive SIP, however, often ask children to reflect on hypothetical vignettes. This pilot study therefore examined a new method that actually involves children in emotionally engaging social interactions: interactive virtual reality (VR). We developed a virtual classroom where children could play games with virtual peers. A sample of boys (N = 32; ages 8-13) from regular and special education reported on their SIP in distinct VR contexts (i.e., neutral, instrumental gain and provocation). They also completed a standard vignette-based assessment of SIP. Results demonstrated good convergent validity of interactive VR assessment of SIP, as indicated by significant moderate to large correlations of VR-assessed SIP with vignette-assessed SIP for all SIP variables except anger. Interactive VR showed improved measurement sensitivity (i.e., larger variances in SIP compared to vignettes) for aggressive responding, but not for other SIP variables. Discriminant validity (i.e., distinct SIP patterns across contexts) of interactive VR was supported for provocation contexts, but not for instrumental gain contexts. Last, children were more enthusiastic about the VR assessment compared to the vignette-based assessment. These findings suggest that interactive VR may be a promising tool, allowing for the assessment of children's aggressive SIP in standardized yet emotionally engaging social interactions.