Are young children adaptive decision makers? A study of age differences in information search behavior

Article Abstract:

How adaptive are young children as decision makers? Although similar questions have been raised frequently with regard to adult consumers, very little attention has been paid to the nature of consumer decision-making abilities in young children. The purpose of this article is to explore the emergence of adaptivity in young children's decision-making skills in the context of predecisional search behavior. This article specifically examines the extent to which young children are capable of adapting their search behavior to differing levels of search costs and benefits in the decision environment. We report results from two experiments, conducted with children aged four to seven years, in which we examined children's search activity in the context of a game called "house of prizes." The game involved making a choice between two "houses" that contained prizes hidden behind each "window." Children were allowed to search behind the windows to uncover the prizes prior to making their choices, with differing costs and benefits of doing so. Data regarding the extent of search conducted by children of different ages suggest that the ability to adapt emerges during the preschool years in a limited fashion and develops rapidly thereafter. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Psychological aspects, Decision-making, Decision making, Children, Children as consumers, Child consumers

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The emergence of adaptive decision making in children

Article Abstract:

How do children become adaptive decision makers in complex environments? Though we know that adult-like abilities are present by age 11 or 12, and that children younger than this often fail to adapt, we know virtually nothing about the mechanisms responsible for this development. In this article, we explore the obstacles that confront young children as they attempt to adapt to complex decision tasks. We focus on the possibility that younger children's failures might be linked to a fairly simple obstacle, such as being insensitive to the cost or effort involved in pursuing alternative strategies for making decisions. This possibility was tested in an experimental setting, with children aged seven to 11 years, in which children's decision-making strategies were monitored as they made choices from increasingly complex information from the boards. Our results indicate that age differences in adaptivity can be eliminated with the imposition of search costs, implicating sensitivity to decision-making costs as a major contributor to the development of adaptivity in complex environments. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Child behavior, Adaptability (Psychology), Adaptability (Psychology) in children, Decision-making in children, Child decision making

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Consumer learning by analogy: a model of the internal knowledge transfer

Article Abstract:

Although knowledge transfer has been found to be an important learning mechanism in several consumer behavior domains, our understanding of the nature and scope of the transfer process is still in its infancy. In this article, we develop a conceptual model to explain how previously acquired knowledge is transferred in the process of consumer learning. Augmenting analogical learning theory with research on expertise effects and conceptual development, our model details the underlying stages in the process of knowledge transfer and identifies key factors influencing the nature and outcome of each stage. Applying our model to several consumer behavior contexts, we demonstrate its utility both as a tool for enhancing our understanding of knowledge transfer and as a productive guide to future research on consumer learning. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Learning, Consumer behavior, Transfer of training

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