The Role of Conflicting Cues in Children’s Partner Selection

Much of what we learn and do-especially as children-relies on others, making it essential to be selective and efficient when deciding whom to cooperate with and learn from. Even preschoolers can recognize domain-specific competencies and prefer partners whose knowledge and skills are most relevant to the task at hand [1]. Previous literature also shows that children adjust their reliance on different agents depending on their goals [2]. However, the mechanisms that support children’s partner preferences and selective learning are still unclear. The current study examines whether and to what extent children adapt their partner selection based on agent characteristics and task relevancy. In a withinsubjects design, 3- to 7-year-old children ($\mathrm{N}=123$; Female=70) are presented with two phases. In the Baseline phase, they encounter two agents; one knowledgeable and the other not. Children are presented with two conditions: (1) Information condition, and (2) Partner condition. During each condition, children are presented with (1) a Competence-Relevant trial; and (2) a Competence-Irrelevant trial and asked for their partner choice. In the Contrast phase, children are introduced to a second characteristic, helpfulness, with the knowledgeable agent being unhelpful and the unknowledgeable agent being helpful. The Contrast phase follows the same structure but contrasts competence with helpfulness. Results suggest that by age 5, children begin considering multiple agent characteristics, but effective use of these characteristics in context possibly emerges later in development, around age 7. Children thus learn to adopt their partner choices depending on context-specific task relevance with age.