Three experiments investigate how self-generated explanation influences children's causal learning. Five-year-olds (N = 114) observed data consistent with two hypotheses and were prompted to explain or to report each observation. In Study 1, when making novel generalizations, explainers were more likely to favor the hypothesis that accounted for…

Children (N=45), who had failed to attain criterion on three tests of linear order, were trained under one of three conditions: reciprocity, reversibility, and discrimination. Under all three conditions children demonstrated learning during training and significant specific transfer effects; reversibility training led to generalized transfer to…