Let's Play With Cards!

For 4- to 5-year-old children

In this study, your child will play a simple card game! In this game, your child will learn about the cards, make some choices while playing with the cards (e.g., which card to peek at after they are turned over and shuffled) and then answer a few short questions (e.g., how did you choose which cards you wanted to peek at?)

Children begin as universal novices; once they start taking action in the world, they start experiencing success on tasks they did not know they could succeed on (e.g., tying their shoes by themselves for the first time, or getting a “lucky draw” in a game). Such experiences are joyful and surprising. Here, we investigate how we can bring about such experiences of “self-surprise,” and how they relate to learners’ later exploration of their capabilities. This study will help us understand what sparks children’s surprise and enhances their desire to continue learning about themselves and the world.

10 minutes

After you finish the study, we will send you a $5 Amazon.com gift card within a week. To be eligible for the gift card, (1) your child must be in the age range for this study, (2) you need to submit a valid consent statement, and (3) we need to see that there is a child with you during the experiment. Each child can only participate in this study once.