You seem certain but you were wrong before: developmental change in preschoolers' relative trust in accurate versus confident speakers.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 25254553.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0108308 and PMC identifier PMC2677762.
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Abstract
The present study tested how preschoolers weigh two important cues to a person's credibility, namely prior accuracy and confidence, when deciding what to learn and believe. Four- and 5-year-olds (N=96) preferred to believe information provided by a confident rather than hesitant individual; however, when confidence conflicted with accuracy, preschoolers increasingly favored information from the previously accurate but hesitant individual as they aged. These findings reveal an important developmental progression in how children use others' confidence and prior accuracy to shape what they learn and provide a window into children's developing social cognition, scepticism, and critical thinking.