Thinking about actions and inactions

For 6-7-year-olds, who are fluent in English (either monolingual English speakers, or multilingual with regular (50% or more) exposure to English in their daily lives, counting both at home and at school)

This study will take place over a 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 for you. In this study, your child will be watching a series of videos about two characters who either perform an action (e.g., letting go of a balloon) or an inaction (e.g., not grabbing the balloon). Your child will be answering questions related to each of the stories, thinking about what would have happened if things were different. Before the study session, you will receive an online consent form and brief demographic survey, which you will need to fill out before participation.

The purpose of this study is to help us better understand how children think about events in the past and how they could have turned out differently. This type of thinking is called counterfactual thinking. It involves imagining alternatives to past events by making changes to the event. When we think counterfactually, some events are easier to “undo” to change the outcome of past events than others. Previous research suggests that one type of event that is easier to undo are actions. It is generally observed that adults have an easier time undoing actions (e.g., If I hadn't thrown the ball sideways, Joe would have caught it) as opposed to inactions (e.g., If I hadn't stood still, I would have caught the ball). In this study, we seek to determine whether children tend to show the same "action bias" that adults show.

15 minutes

For families residing in Canada, you will receive a $5 gift card to Indigo after participation. For families residing in the United States, you will receive a $5 gift card to Amazon.com after participation. To be eligible for compensation, you must meet all of the following criteria: (1) Your child falls within the specified age range for this study, and meets the language requirements and (2) you provide recorded verbal consent. Each child is eligible to participate to receive a gift card only once; participants cannot do the study more than once for compensation. You will receive your gift card via email within 10 business days after participation.