The development of evaluative processing in children.
Published: 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 26
ISBN-13: 9780494213940
Description: Currently, little is known about how evaluation develops. In this study, 8-, 10- and 12-year-old children, and adults, were presented with novel stimuli resembling vitamins. The vitamins varied in color and were associated with two equiprobable outcomes, one positive, and one negative. Participants were instructed to accept or reject each vitamin to maximize a health score. In the second phase, half the participants were explicitly told the reward contingencies were now reversed, whereas the other half were told to 'learn these vitamins'. When not explicitly told the new rules, only 8- and 10-year-olds were unable to update their evaluations. Adults switched successfully in the absence of a rule, and 12-year-olds appeared to be in a transitional phase. Results suggest that children are able to learn complex associations and use them to guide evaluation and decision-making, but it is only with development that children can update these associations.
Notes: Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-03, page: 1679.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2006.

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