TY - JOUR
T1 - Curiosity and Demographic Factors as Determinants of Children’s Probability-Learning Strategies
AU - Kreitler, Shulamith
AU - Zigler, Edward
AU - Kreitler, Hans
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by Research Grant HD-03009from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. We thank Sally Styfco for her critical reading of the manuscript. Requests for reprints should be sent to Edward Zigler, Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520.
PY - 1984/9
Y1 - 1984/9
N2 - Children's curiosity, gender, activity level, and socioeconomic status (SES) were related to their performance on a partially reinforced discrimination-learning task. The 38 boys and 37 girls were in the first grade and were all white. Three factors of curiosity (manipulatory, conceptual, and about the complex) were assessed. Performance on the learning task was scored for the number of correct responses (maximizing) and for the frequency of three-step sequences reflecting variability, systematic patterning, and perseveration. In general, the three curiosity factors related negatively to maximizing and perseveration and positively to variability. (The same effects were found for activity level.) Systematic patterning related positively to one curiosity type and negatively to another. Girls used less maximizing and more systematic patterning than boys. The response choices of girls were affected more by differences in conceptual curiosity and those of boys by differences in curiosity about the complex. Activity level was unrelated to gender but differed with SES. The findings demonstrate the role of different curiosity factors in shaping response sequences and suggest some reasons for children's choice of probability-learning strategies.
AB - Children's curiosity, gender, activity level, and socioeconomic status (SES) were related to their performance on a partially reinforced discrimination-learning task. The 38 boys and 37 girls were in the first grade and were all white. Three factors of curiosity (manipulatory, conceptual, and about the complex) were assessed. Performance on the learning task was scored for the number of correct responses (maximizing) and for the frequency of three-step sequences reflecting variability, systematic patterning, and perseveration. In general, the three curiosity factors related negatively to maximizing and perseveration and positively to variability. (The same effects were found for activity level.) Systematic patterning related positively to one curiosity type and negatively to another. Girls used less maximizing and more systematic patterning than boys. The response choices of girls were affected more by differences in conceptual curiosity and those of boys by differences in curiosity about the complex. Activity level was unrelated to gender but differed with SES. The findings demonstrate the role of different curiosity factors in shaping response sequences and suggest some reasons for children's choice of probability-learning strategies.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0021495421&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00221325.1984.10532251
DO - 10.1080/00221325.1984.10532251
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AN - SCOPUS:0021495421
SN - 0022-1325
VL - 145
SP - 61
EP - 75
JO - Journal of Genetic Psychology
JF - Journal of Genetic Psychology
IS - 1
ER -