Cornell University
Library
Cornell UniversityLibrary

eCommons

Help
Log In(current)
  1. Home
  2. Cornell University Graduate School
  3. Cornell Theses and Dissertations
  4. Knowing Who Knows What Best: Preschoolers Selectively Use Others' Past Accuracy In Causal And Verbal Learning

Knowing Who Knows What Best: Preschoolers Selectively Use Others' Past Accuracy In Causal And Verbal Learning

File(s)
Vredenburgh, Christopher.pdf (732.86 KB)
Permanent Link(s)
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/17782
Collections
Cornell Theses and Dissertations
Author
Vredenburgh, Christopher
Abstract

This research examined the ability of three-and-four-year-olds to use domains of knowledge to evaluate sources of knowledge. Participants were presented with a causal expert who fixed broken toys and a verbal expert who knew the names of tools. Participants were then asked if they should ask the causal expert or verbal expert for assistance with two questions each concerning causal, verbal, and functional knowledge. Four-year-olds, but not three-year-olds, selected to ask the causal expert for causal knowledge and the verbal expert for verbal knowledge. In terms of functional knowledge, as a group participants did not prefer one expert over another. However, four-year-olds selected the same expert for both functional questions at a significant level, suggesting they had a firm decision about which expert was best suited to answer the functional questions. These results suggest four-year-olds are able to use domains of knowledge to evaluate the epistemic states of other people and have theories about how verbal, functional, and causal knowledge relate to one another.

Date Issued
2010-10-20
Type
dissertation or thesis

Site Statistics | Help

About eCommons | Policies | Terms of use | Contact Us

copyright © 2002-2026 Cornell University Library | Privacy | Web Accessibility Assistance