ePrints

“First, I will get the marbles.” Children’s foresight abilities in a modified spoon task

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Gema Martin-Ordas

Downloads

Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.

Abstract

© 2017 Elsevier Inc. Previous methodologies used to investigate future thinking (i.e., one-step "spoon test") do not directly assess temporal reasoning. Consequently, the extent to which foresight is required to solve these tasks has been questioned. In the current study, 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds were presented with a two-step "spoon test": to secure a future need (e.g., play with a marble run game), children first had to obtain a key that allowed them next to access the marbles. By the age of 4 children selected the key; however, it is only by the age of 5 that children reasoned about the temporal sequence of future events and selected the key. Temporal reasoning, memory for the past events and age significantly contributed to predict children's ability to select the correct item. These findings suggest that temporal reasoning is crucial to assess future thinking and that item-choice measures alone might not involve foresight.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Martin-Ordas G

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Cognitive Development

Year: 2018

Volume: 45

Pages: 152-161

Print publication date: 01/01/2018

Online publication date: 29/07/2017

Acceptance date: 18/07/2017

ISSN (print): 0885-2014

ISSN (electronic): 1879-226X

Publisher: Elsevier Ltd

URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2017.07.001

DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2017.07.001

Altmetrics

Share