ERIC Number: EJ1468884
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-May
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1363-755X
EISSN: EISSN-1467-7687
Available Date: 2025-03-10
Pedagogy Does Not Necessarily Constrain Exploration: Investigating Preschoolers' Information Search during Instructed Exploration
Rebeka Anna Zsoldos1,2,3; Ildikó Király2,3
Developmental Science, v28 n3 e70004 2025
Pedagogy is seen as a "double-edged sword": it efficiently conveys information but may constrain the exploration of the causal structure of objects, suggesting that pedagogy and exploration are mutually exclusive learning processes. However, research on children's active involvement in concept acquisition implies that pedagogical signals could facilitate exploratory behavior, indicating a complementary relationship. To understand the link between them, we designed an object exploration task for preschool-aged children featuring between-subject conditions of pedagogical exploration or pedagogical demonstration. Our findings suggest that if the use of the toy is not demonstrated to children and they are allowed to discover the evidence independently, pedagogical signals do not restrict subsequent exploratory behavior. These results imply that pedagogy and exploration complement each other, with pedagogical signals highlighting the relevant evidence and exploratory behavior enriching knowledge by fostering learning from individual experiences.
Descriptors: Preschool Education, Preschool Children, Information Seeking, Discovery Learning, Toys, Educational Practices, Child Behavior
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/X5FNY
Author Affiliations: 1Doctoral School of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary; 2Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary; 3MTA-ELTE Social Minds Research Group, Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary