Which magical event is sillier?

For 4–7-year-olds

This study will take place on a video call, live 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. Your child will see two photos at a time that describe magical events that happened (e.g., a cake that was baked inside of a freezer and a cake that was baked inside of a yawn). Then, they will be asked either: (1) which event they want to learn more about or (2) which event they think is sillier, and your child will choose between the two photos! We are interested in whether children will choose different photos depending on which question they were asked.

Much research has studied children's understandings of possible, improbable, and impossible events. But it is unknown whether these are the only kinds of events that exist in children's minds. Here, we are testing whether children understand "inconceivable" events that can't exist in any possible world, and whether they want to learn about such events!

15–20 minutes

Each participant who is in the required age range and participated in the study will receive a $5 gift card from Amazon.com within two weeks of study completion.