ERIC Number: EJ1475423
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jul
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-3920
EISSN: EISSN-1467-8624
Available Date: 2025-04-12
Children's Developing Understanding of the Value of Disagreement for Learning
Ashley Ransom1,2; Kirsten H. Blakey1; Samuel Ronfard1
Child Development, v96 n4 p1373-1384 2025
Do children and adults recognize the value of disagreement for learning? Across two preregistered studies (data collected 2023), 4- to 8-year-old children (N = 200, 101 females, mixed ethnicities) and adults (N = 200, 99 females, mixed ethnicities) were asked whether a protagonist would learn more by talking to someone who agrees or disagrees with them about different beliefs. Across studies, participants more often endorsed learning from someone who disagreed with the protagonist when no "correct" answer existed, that is, when beliefs concerned preferences or ambiguous situations, or when the protagonist did not hold the typically "correct" belief. Adults endorsed learning from disagreement and articulated why disagreement is helpful for learning more often than children.
Descriptors: Childrens Attitudes, Child Development, Young Children, Persuasive Discourse, Congruence (Psychology), Beliefs, Preferences, Ambiguity (Context), Learning
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: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 2St. Mary's University of Minnesota, Winona, Minnesota, USA