Which snack do they like?

For 7- to 8-year-olds

This study will take place on a Zoom video call with a researcher! Clicking on the “Schedule a time to participate” button will send you to an online calendar where you can select a date and time that works best for you. A researcher will read your child two short stories about some children who chose some snacks (e.g., broccoli and chocolate) at school, where one of the snacks is picked out as the default option for the children. Afterwards, your child will indicate which snack the children in the stories liked more.

This study explores how children figure out other people’s preferences based on their choices. From past research, we know that adults infer that individuals who actively switch away from a default option have stronger preferences than those who passively accept it. This is because default options often convey social information, such as implicit recommendations from the default-setter. Therefore, accepting the default option may reflect the choice-maker’s own preferences and/or their wish to follow the default-setter’s recommendation. On the other hand, rejecting the default option most likely reflects the choice-maker’s own preferences, which is a stronger signal of preference. Our primary question of interest is: Do children, like adults, make nuanced inferences about others’ preferences depending on their choices in the presence of default options? For instance, do children infer that another child who chooses broccoli prefers broccoli more when their parents picked the chocolate rather than broccoli as a default snack? What about if the child chooses chocolate? This study will help us understand how children make inferences about others’ preferences based on their choices, especially when there is additional social information to be accounted for in the way the choices are set up (e.g., having a default option).

10 minutes

Participants will receive a $5 Amazon.com gift card for completing the study. The gift card will be sent within 24 hours after the appointment is complete. Only one gift card per participant and the participant must be in the study age range in order to receive the gift card.