中国科学院心理研究所机构知识库

幼儿如何选择性地采信他人提供的信息、获取知识,是幼儿社会认知发展研究的重要问题。除客观的信息内容外,信息传递者的特征也影响幼儿的选择性信任。另外,在不确定情境下,他人证言与幼儿已有信念可能存在冲突,在二者冲突的情境下,幼儿是否可以采信他人的证言,并最终改变幼儿的已有判断是以往研究忽略的问题。本研究考察了当母亲证言与幼儿已有信念冲突时,不同程度的冲突情境(面对不同比例的合成动物时)对幼儿选择性信任和信念修正的影响。研究采用冲突信息源范式,向74名4～6岁幼儿呈现对不同比例合成动物(50%-50%任务vs 75%-25%任务)命名的证言,考察幼儿对信息提供者的询问意愿、对证言的信任情况和在证言前后对合成动物的判断(信念修正)。信息提供的一方为母亲(提供相似度低的动物名称),另一方为陌生人(提供相似度高的动物名称)。结果发现,幼儿的选择性信任和信念修正受到母亲证言与已有信念冲突程度的影响。在低冲突情境下,幼儿对母亲证言的询问意愿和外显信任均高于高冲突情境。幼儿的信念修正存在年龄差异,在低冲突情境下,年长幼儿比年幼幼儿更倾向于改变已有信念,在高冲突情境下,年长的幼儿比年幼幼儿更不愿意改变已有信念。本研究结果表明,当母亲的证言与幼儿已有信念冲突时,中国幼儿可以区分不同程度的冲突情境,并且可以根据冲突的程度进行选择性信任和信念修正。

One of the most imperative issues in developmental research on social cognition is whether young children selectively trust informants' testimonies and revise their beliefs based on those testimonies. Previous research has shown that both the nature of the information and the traits of informants affect young children's selective trust and belief revision. However, the role that contradictory information may play in young children's selective trust and belief revision has yet to be examined. The present study examined Chinese preschoolers' selective trust and belief revision in situations in which their beliefs were contradicted by information provided by a familiar informant (the mother). The present study adopted the conflicting sources paradigm. Testimonies about hybrid pictures with different perceptual cues (the 50%–50% hybrids task vs the 75%–25% hybrids task) were presented to 74 4- to 6-year-old preschoolers, to investigate young children's selective trust and belief revision. Participants heard two informants (the mother and the stranger) name the hybrid differently. In all tasks, the stranger’s naming was more consistent with the perceptual cues. Children were asked about their own naming (What animal is this?), whom they would like to ask (mother or stranger?), whom to believe and the endorsement question (What animal do you think this is?). The results showed that children's selective trust and belief revision are influenced by the degree of conflict between mother's testimonies and perceptual evidence. In the low conflicting situation (50%–50% hybrids task), children are more inclined to ask for and explicitly trust the mother's testimony than in the high conflicting situation (75%–25% hybrids task). Furthermore, in the low conflicting situation, older children are more likely to revise their beliefs than younger children; whereas in the high conflicting situation, older children are more hesitant to revise their beliefs than younger children. The findings indicate that older children are more flexible in selective trust and belief revision. They are better able to factor the available perceptual cues into their consideration of the adult's testimony. In summary, 4- to 6-year-old preschoolers' selective trust and belief revision are influenced by the degree of conflict between others' testimonies and perceptual evidence. In high conflicting situations, they typically refuse to ask for and endorse the testimonies provided by the familiar informant, or to revise their beliefs. The results of the present study demonstrate that young children are able to distinguish between different degrees of conflict. When the mother's testimony conflicted dramatically with the young children's existing beliefs, older Chinese preschoolers in our study tended to distrust the mother and refused to revise their beliefs.