Yale Developmental Labs

Traditionally, it has been believed that in order to reason logically, one must have the ability to use language. However, a study by Cesana-Arlotti et al. (2018), shows that this may not actually be true! By measuring the visual behaviors of infants looking at scenes that presented ambiguities of images and outcomes, the study suggests that preverbal infants can detect logical inconsistencies, challenging the idea that reasoning depends on language and hinting it may be an innate part of the mind. Link to article

Educators and caregivers often want to know how to foster persistence when children encounter challenges. A Leonard et al (2017) study suggests that persistence can be learned from adult models: Babies try harder after watching an adult’s effort lead to success, compared to when they see an adult effortlessly succeed. Link to article

People often think they understand complicated things much better than they actually do. This is called the 'illusion of explanatory depth.' It tends to happen more with explanations—like how something works—than with simple facts or stories. The illusion is especially strong when we can see something in action and try to explain it as it happens. It even happens when we try to explain everyday and familiar things like bicycles! The 2002 study by Leonid Rozenblit and Frank Keil delves into the how and why of this phenomenon. Link to article

By age four, children can do more than just trust what others say. They also think carefully about who really knows things. In a recent study by Aboody et al., we showed that preschoolers are more likely to trust someone who can make correct predictions without checking first, compared to someone who can make correct observations. This shows that young children use more than simple rules like assuming that being correct means you are knowledgeable—they make smart inferences about what others know and use those guesses to decide whom to trust and share information with. Link to article

Young children care about more than just what someone shares, they also care about how it’s shared. In this study by Jacobs et al., 4- to 6-year-olds watched adults give out cookies in fair or unfair ways. Even when the outcomes were the same, children said the adult who counted each cookie was more fair than one who just guessed. But when someone counted to give an unfair amount, kids judged that person as less fair. These findings show that children don’t just care about outcomes when thinking about fairness. Instead, they see counting as a sign that someone is trying to be precise and fair. Link to article

Kids as young as four will show strong loyalty to a group they're randomly placed in—even if the group has no real meaning. In this 2002 study by Yang et. al., researchers compared how kids respond to these "pretend" groups versus real ones like race or gender. Surprisingly, the kids often favored their pretend group just as much or more. This shows that the tendency to divide the world into “us” and “them” is something that starts early and can be based on almost anything. Link to article