How Did She Solve It?

6- to 8-year-olds

Your child will watch two videos of an animated character trying different puzzles on a computer. We will ask your child whether they think the character had an Aha! experience while solving the puzzle, and whether they think they would have an Aha! experience if they tried that puzzle. Then, your child will try a short puzzle where they move balls to match a picture.

Children have a lot to learn about the world, and they often do so by actively exploring different activities. In this study, we are interested in how children of different ages recognize certain kinds of activities before they have the chance to explore the activities on their own. We are particularly interested in whether children notice the difference between activities that involve a feeling of insight (an “Aha!” moment) versus activities that are incremental and stepwise. This study will allow us to run more controlled experiments using these pre-tested stimuli and contribute to our broader understanding of how children decide which activities to try.

10 minutes

After you participate, we'll send you a $5 (USD) Amazon gift card within approximately one week. Only one gift card per child. To be eligible for the gift card, you need to submit a valid consent statement, we need to see that your child is with you, your child must be within the eligible age range, and you and your child must be an English speakers. But we will send a gift card even if you do not finish the whole game or we are not able to use your child's data.