Experimental 'microcultures' in young children: identifying biographic, cognitive, and social predictors of information transmission

Flynn, E.; Whiten, A.

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01747.x

Experimental 'microcultures' in young children: identifying biographic, cognitive, and social predictors of information transmission

Flynn, E.; Whiten, A.

Authors

E. Flynn

A. Whiten

Abstract

In one of the first open diffusion experiments with young children, a tool-use task that afforded multiple methods to extract an enclosed reward and a child model habitually using one of these methods were introduced into different playgroups. Eighty-eight children, ranging in age from 2 years 8 months to 4 years 5 months, participated. Measures were taken of how alternative methods and success in extracting rewards spread across the different groups. Additionally, the biographic, social, cognitive, and temperamental predictors of social learning were investigated. Variations in social learning were related to age, popularity, dominance, impulsivity, and shyness, while other factors such as sex, theory of mind, verbal ability, and even imitativeness showed little association with variance in children’s information acquisition.

Citation

Flynn, E., & Whiten, A. (2012). Experimental 'microcultures' in young children: identifying biographic, cognitive, and social predictors of information transmission. Child Development, 83(3), 911-925. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01747.x

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	May 1, 2012
Deposit Date	Jul 27, 2011
Publicly Available Date	Oct 9, 2012
Journal	Child Development
Print ISSN	0009-3920
Electronic ISSN	1467-8624
Publisher	Wiley
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	83
Issue	3
Pages	911-925
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01747.x