Children base their investment on calculated pay-off.
To investigate the rise of economic abilities during development we studied children aged between 3 and 10 in an exchange situation requiring them to calculate their investment based on different offers. One experimenter gave back a reward twice the amount given by the children, and a second always...
Main Authors: | , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2012-01-01
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Series: | PLoS ONE |
Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3297640?pdf=render |
Summary: | To investigate the rise of economic abilities during development we studied children aged between 3 and 10 in an exchange situation requiring them to calculate their investment based on different offers. One experimenter gave back a reward twice the amount given by the children, and a second always gave back the same quantity regardless of the amount received. To maximize pay-offs children had to invest a maximal amount with the first, and a minimal amount with the second. About one third of the 5-year-olds and most 7- and 10-year-olds were able to adjust their investment according to the partner, while all 3-year-olds failed. Such performances should be related to the rise of cognitive and social skills after 4 years. |
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ISSN: | 1932-6203 |