Social Groups and Learning Norms

For 3- to 8-year-olds

This study will take place on a video call, live with a researcher! Clicking on the “Participate Now!” button will send you to an online calendar where you can select a date and time that works for you. In this Zoom-based study, your child will hear stories about characters doing made-up actions (like 'gorking') in a fictional land called Adventure World. After each action, characters from the same group or different groups will say that the action is bad. We will ask your child questions about the characters' actions.

In this study, we want to understand how children learn norms (what is right and wrong). We know that children understand conventional norms (such as saying thank you) and moral norms (such as not harming others). However, we don't know whether children learn from who says an action is wrong. We think children will believe that an action is worse if different groups of people say it is wrong.

20 minutes

Children will receive a $5 online gift card and (if requested) a certificate of participation, within 24 hours of participating over Zoom. To receive the gift card and certificate, the child must be within the age range for our study. Each child will only receive one gift card. We can compensate participants with an Amazon US gift card, or with an alternative online gift card. We'll ask you about what gift cards work for your family, and we'll work with our lab manager to get you a suitable gift card.