5 ms·

Could this have more to do with the fact that pre-school aged children have the attention span of a puppy because their brains aren't fully developed yet?

starkd 5y ago
I don't think pre-school aged children even know where to look for the data yet.
- wccrawford 5y ago
  I think they do: Ask their parents or teachers. But remembering it long enough to get away from the person who told them the fact and then ask a different person... That's another story. I'd think far too much would be happening for them to bother remembering to ask. Being able to look it up independently of another human makes it a lot easier to verify information immediately, so I'm not surprised that people who can read are more likely to verify info than those who can't.
- ALittleLight 5y ago
  In this test the kids are sorting figures that do or don't activate a music box. The box is left next to them so they could use the box to test the figures prior to sorting them or they could rely on what an experimenter told them (white figures activate the box) or what they observed when a different experimenter was actually using the toy. What the title means by "seek data" is "Did the kids try the figurines on the box themselves?"
- jkepler 5y ago
  They also get a ton of data about the world through free play, especially outside in nature, but they experience it as play, not data gathering.
dylan604 5y ago
Yet, this describes plenty of older people as well (teens/20s).
- WJW 5y ago
  I know this is a popular preconception and it feeds into all our biases about lazy youth that just needs to get off our lawn, but any teenager will readily out-think a preschooler.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - dylan604 5y ago
    whoooaa, you're being very generous there. "any teenager" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. i have the unique experience of being one at one point. of course i'm being sarcastic, but some of the dumbest shit i've ever done (hopefully will ever have done) was as a teenager. a toddler does things because "they don't know any better". a teenager does things even though "they should know better". i've seen medical people talking about the brain still not fully finished baking until the 20s. so with that unfinished gushy frontal lobes and all of those raging hormones with that natural teenage angst, it's a wonder we survived as a species at all ;-)
    - jjk166 5y ago
      There's a difference between wisdom and intelligence. Teenagers tend to lack the former, not the latter.
wizzwizz4 5y ago
Or perhaps because the intuitions of pre-school-aged children are still forming; there's a lot they don't know, and the world is new and exciting, so scepticism would mostly just rob them of learning opportunities.
- nicoburns 5y ago
  From what I remember of being that age, I think I just didn't notice things. As an adult (and as an older child) I often get a "that doesn't seem right" feeling/intuition. As a very young child I didn't know what normal was or what the important parts of experiences were so I was much more open to things and just went with them.
  - wizzwizz4 5y ago
    I've got used to relying on my “that doesn't seem right” feeling for determining whether I know stuff. In fields where I know enough to not feel ignorant, I say all sorts of things that don't feel wrong, but they actually are. (When talking about linguistics, for instance, I am confidently incoherent. I know this, and yet the next time I want to say something about linguistics, I do not know that I am speaking garbage.)

starkd 5y ago

I don't think pre-school aged children even know where to look for the data yet.

wccrawford 5y ago
I think they do: Ask their parents or teachers. But remembering it long enough to get away from the person who told them the fact and then ask a different person... That's another story. I'd think far too much would be happening for them to bother remembering to ask. Being able to look it up independently of another human makes it a lot easier to verify information immediately, so I'm not surprised that people who can read are more likely to verify info than those who can't.
ALittleLight 5y ago
In this test the kids are sorting figures that do or don't activate a music box. The box is left next to them so they could use the box to test the figures prior to sorting them or they could rely on what an experimenter told them (white figures activate the box) or what they observed when a different experimenter was actually using the toy. What the title means by "seek data" is "Did the kids try the figurines on the box themselves?"
jkepler 5y ago
They also get a ton of data about the world through free play, especially outside in nature, but they experience it as play, not data gathering.

dylan604 5y ago

Yet, this describes plenty of older people as well (teens/20s).

WJW 5y ago
I know this is a popular preconception and it feeds into all our biases about lazy youth that just needs to get off our lawn, but any teenager will readily out-think a preschooler.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- dylan604 5y ago
  whoooaa, you're being very generous there. "any teenager" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. i have the unique experience of being one at one point. of course i'm being sarcastic, but some of the dumbest shit i've ever done (hopefully will ever have done) was as a teenager. a toddler does things because "they don't know any better". a teenager does things even though "they should know better". i've seen medical people talking about the brain still not fully finished baking until the 20s. so with that unfinished gushy frontal lobes and all of those raging hormones with that natural teenage angst, it's a wonder we survived as a species at all ;-)
  - jjk166 5y ago
    There's a difference between wisdom and intelligence. Teenagers tend to lack the former, not the latter.

wizzwizz4 5y ago

Or perhaps because the intuitions of pre-school-aged children are still forming; there's a lot they don't know, and the world is new and exciting, so scepticism would mostly just rob them of learning opportunities.

nicoburns 5y ago
From what I remember of being that age, I think I just didn't notice things. As an adult (and as an older child) I often get a "that doesn't seem right" feeling/intuition. As a very young child I didn't know what normal was or what the important parts of experiences were so I was much more open to things and just went with them.
- wizzwizz4 5y ago
  I've got used to relying on my “that doesn't seem right” feeling for determining whether I know stuff. In fields where I know enough to not feel ignorant, I say all sorts of things that don't feel wrong, but they actually are. (When talking about linguistics, for instance, I am confidently incoherent. I know this, and yet the next time I want to say something about linguistics, I do not know that I am speaking garbage.)