Search

The longitudinal relation between toddlers' behaviors in uncertain situations (e.g., information seeking, hesitation) and preschoolers' uncertainty monitoring was investigated (between 2014 and 2019 in Northern California; Time 1: N = 183, M = 28.99 months, 53% female, 67.8% White; Time 2: N = 159, M = 41.64 months, 52.2% female). Eye movements and response latencies were recorded as children identified a target from two partially occluded (Time 1) or degraded (Time 2) images. Confidence ratings for identifications were collected at Time 2. At Time 1, gaze transitions between response options, but not response latencies and mental state language, predicted Time 2 uncertainty monitoring. Overall, these findings provide the first direct evidence of connections between toddlers' uncertainty behaviors and preschoolers' uncertainty monitoring., (© 2024 The Author(s). Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.)

Memory decision-making in 26- to 32-month-olds was investigated using visual-paired comparison paradigms, requiring toddlers to select familiar stimuli (Active condition) or view familiar and novel stimuli (Passive condition). In Experiment 1 (N = 108, 54.6% female, 62% White; replication N = 98), toddlers with higher accuracy in the Active condition showed reduced novelty preference in that condition, but not in the Passive condition (d = -.11). In Experiment 2 (N = 78; 52.6% female; 70.5% White), a brief 5% increase in target size boosted gaze transitions across conditions (d = .50) and accuracy in the Active condition (d = .53). Overall, evidence suggests that better attentional distribution can support decision-making. Research was conducted between 2014 and 2020 in Northern California., (© 2023 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.)