Preschoolers constrain exploration after direct instruction and after overhearing instruction to another child, but not after overhearing instruction to an adult or a non-pedagogical intentional action¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2011 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Children in the Direct and Indirect Child conditions performed fewer different kinds of actions than children in the Indirect Adult and Intentional conditions. → Bonawitz Elizabeth 2011 q3 i? Children in the Direct and Indirect Child conditions discovered fewer non-demonstrated functions than children in the Indirect Adult and Intentional conditions, even controlling for play duration. → Bonawitz Elizabeth 2011 (2)

Evidence¶

Bonawitz Elizabeth 2011¶

Bonawitz Elizabeth, Shafto Patrick, Gweon Hyowon, Goodman Noah D., Spelke Elizabeth, Schulz Laura. (2011). The Double-edged Sword of Pedagogy: Instruction limits spontaneous exploration and discovery. Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2010.10.001

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Experiment 2 randomly assigned 64 preschoolers to Direct, Indirect Child, Indirect Adult, or Intentional conditions. The planned contrast (weights 1,1,-1,-1) showed the Direct and Indirect Child groups performed "fewer different kinds of actions," F(1,60)=11.50, p<0.01; overall playtime did not differ between conditions (F(1,60)=.92, p=ns).

"Children in the Direct (M=3.13) and Indirect Child (M=3.94) condition performed fewer different kinds of actions on the toy than children in the Indirect Adult (M=5.31) and Intentional (M=5.13) conditions, F(1,60)=11.50, p<0.01."

Bonawitz Elizabeth 2011 (2)¶

Bonawitz Elizabeth, Shafto Patrick, Gweon Hyowon, Goodman Noah D., Spelke Elizabeth, Schulz Laura. (2011). The Double-edged Sword of Pedagogy: Instruction limits spontaneous exploration and discovery. Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2010.10.001

q3 · i? · causal · r2

In Experiment 2, discovery of non-demonstrated functions (0–3 scale) was lower in the Direct and Indirect Child conditions than in the Indirect Adult and Intentional conditions, F(1,60)=6.38, p<.05; the contrast persisted for the first 60 seconds of play (F(1,60)=9.88, p<0.01).

"Children’s mean score was lower in the Direct (M=.50) and Indirect Child (M=.75) conditions than the Indirect Adult (M=1.31) and Intentional (M=1.00) conditions, F(1,60)=6.38, p<.05, even when controlling for duration of play by considering only the first 60 seconds"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Preschoolers given a pedagogical demonstration of a toy function play for less time than children in interrupted, naive, or baseline conditions — related
• Pedagogically instructed preschoolers perform fewer kinds of actions and discover fewer non-demonstrated functions of a novel toy than children in non-pedagogical conditions — related
• Guided play outperforms direct instruction or free play on a few early-childhood outcomes, with no reliable difference on most others, in one meta-analysis — related
• Children structure their play to reduce uncertainty and deconfound causal variables — related
• Schooling disciplines and constrains children's spontaneity in idea generation with mixed results — related
• Overhearing dialogue between virtual tutor and tutee produced more recall propositions, transfer questions, and deeper reasoning than monologue — related