Did Bobby or Sophia break the mirror?

For 3- to 9- year-olds

Your child will begin with a brief warmup game helping our friendly puppet, Maggie, evaluate some sentences. For example, they will see a dog picture and be asked about whether or not they think this is a dog. After the warmup, they will enjoy two interactive digital storybooks. One story follows Suzy and Andy at the park, where a bike ride ends with a broken fence—either on purpose or by accident. The other story follows Sophia and Bobby in a room, where a mirror gets cracked—again, either intentionally or accidentally. For each story, your child will answer some questions about who was responsible for the outcome.

When something goes wrong, how do we determine who is to blame, and how does the language we use shape that decision? In cognitive science, researchers are interested in whether saying someone "broke" an object carries a different meaning than saying they "caused it to break." This project investigates how children and adults connect intent with responsibility. We study how description format (lexical verbs like "break" vs. periphrastic verbs like "cause to break") and intention (on purpose vs. accidental) interact to guide our moral reasoning. Understanding these differences helps reveal how human causal reasoning develops and how language influences our social and moral judgments.

10 minutes

You will receive a $5 Amazon.com gift card for participating in this study. To be eligible for the gift card, your child must be in the age range for this study and your child needs to be visible in the study video. Please also note that you must submit a valid consent statement. Each child is eligible to participate in the study and receive a gift card only once. Gift cards will be sent within one week.