Recognizing the future utility of a solution: When do children choose to retain and share an object to solve a future problem?

British Journal of Developmental Psychology, Journal Year: 2025, Volume and Issue: unknown

Published: April 25, 2025

Abstract Humans' ability to recognize the future utility of a solution is fundamental our capacity for innovation. It motivates us to—for instance—retain and share useful tools, transforming one‐time solutions into innovations that change future. However, developmental research on innovation has thus far primarily focused children's create solutions, rather than recognition their utility. Here we examined tendency retain would be again at later point. Across two rooms, 4‐ 9‐year‐olds ( N = 83, M 83.59 months, SD 21.21 43 girls) were given series time‐limited tasks which could solved by building using tool. When opportunity transport tool between first second children from age 6 onwards took above chance levels. subsequently asked secure another child, only 8‐ chose this chance. Positive age‐partialled correlations retaining sharing suggest these behaviours may reflect common underlying recognizing

Language: Английский

The recursive grammar of mental time travel

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 379(1913)

Published: Sept. 15, 2024

One apparent feature of mental time travel is the ability to recursively embed temporal perspectives across different times: humans can remember how we anticipated future and anticipate will past. This recursive structure might be formalized in terms a 'grammar' that reflective but more general than linguistic notions absolute relative tense. Here, I provide foundation for this grammatical framework, emphasizing bounded (rather unbounded) function supports limited depth actual possible scenarios. Anticipated counterfactual thinking, instance, entails three levels scenario ('in future, reflect on my past self could have taken action') centrally implicated complex human decision-making. perspective calls further research into mechanisms, ontogeny, functions phylogeny travel, revives question links with other forms thinking such as theory mind. article part theme issue 'Elements episodic memory: lessons from 40 years research'.

Language: Английский

A Pilot Study of Delay Discounting of Real and Hypothetical Lego Bricks by Children: Systematicity of Data Depends on Task Type

The Psychological Record, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 75(1), P. 105 - 110

Published: Dec. 2, 2024

Language: Английский