Infants and toddlers leverage their understanding of action goals to evaluate agents who help others |
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| Authors: | Brandon M Woo Elizabeth S Spelke |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA;2. Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
The Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA |
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| Abstract: | Why do infants and toddlers prefer helpers? Four experiments (conducted from 2019–2022; n = 136, 66% White, 15% Asian, 4% Black, 2% Hispanic/Latino, 13% multiracial, majority USA) investigated whether infants and toddlers favor agents whose actions allow others to achieve their goals. In the key experiment, 8-month-old infants and 15-month-old toddlers viewed a protagonist who tried and failed to open a box that contained a toy while two other agents (helpers) observed; then the toys were exchanged and the helpers opened different boxes. Infants and toddlers differently evaluated the two helpers, consistent with their developing means-end understanding. Together, the present four experiments connect infants' and toddlers' evaluations of helping to their understanding of goal-directed behavior. |
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