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A Domain-General Sense of Confidence in Children

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Abstract

Our minds constantly evaluate the confidence in what we see, think, and remember. Previous work suggests that confidence is a domain-general currency in adulthood, unifying otherwise independent sensory and perceptual representations. Here, we test whether children also possess a domain-general sense of confidence over otherwise independent perceptual dimensions. Six- to nine-year-olds completed either three simple perceptual discrimination tasks: a number task (“Which group has more dots?”), an area task (“Which blob is bigger?”), and an emotions task (“Which face is happier?”), or three relative confidence tasks, selecting which of two trials they are more confident on. We find that while children’s discrimination performance across the three tasks was independent and constituted three separate factors, children’s confidence in each of three dimensions was strongly correlated and constituted only a single factor. Our results suggest that confidence is a domain-general currency even in childhood, providing a mechanism by which disparate perceptual representations could be integrated.
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A domain-general sense of confidence in children
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$&($$9-%-%$$#"###)$%F- "$&&
$&#$8-##(&")$;C'## 
/B6?+-&& '##%-%-8&))$:)&8
-&$$-')%'$-###$-$)$#-#+
:') -&$$-8&-&%$8)##'#-'$'&$-')
$&-%-$&'-#G%-&)#$$&-%-$&)&#-#G
%-&);. -& C /B1?+
$ 8&'##%-%-#))'-&#' :#$
8,&#$%-$-&#-%--##)$)-)$
'##+3-#;/B6? %:') '#H$I-&#
6
-%-(&"$&'($$$F#$&$8 %$&$-&#
($$#')'()-)$';++ 8&-&(:&#'$#?$&($$
'$-$';++ 8&-&%-,#&))?$-$+8" $#,#
F-&$:)-$$'($&-%-&"(,8$
-%$$8,-')$#%-&#-%-)#$$#$&##$"$$
-%-;$&($$%%$$($8#$$#%-%- ++ # # '' 
' C /B1? $&#)#(## -$-$(
"-%$;$$% # C.-, DII@)8#, ' C#, /B0@
#C# DIB?+2&($&-')$#-$($$-%-9'$# #)#
(##-##$#,#;++ "-%-'-%-$& #
)$(3$+ /B6?'&$%-$&$-$%#'$#
-%-##$"$+4'$$&##)#(##%-#F##$"$$
-%- 8)$'$&#$&$"#)-)$$$$&$'##
)$-)$#Jconfidence acuity)$%$&#)#(##(#,$&'$-
8&-&%$8$#$&$"'-%$ $&$&$&8-%$$&
#$;C- "8@C'## /B6?+
Here, we use this novel and accessible measure to test children’s confidence acuity in
three distinct perceptual dimensions: number, area, and emotion perception (Odic, 2018; Vo et
al., 2014). We first confirm the domain-specificity of these dimensions in children aged 6 to 9,
then investigate whether confidence sensitivity in these dimensions nonetheless correlates,
signalling domain-generality, or if children’s confidence representations are domain-specific
before formal schooling and become domain-general as they develop.
H
Method
Participants
&$#:$-&;MKE@L@'$&#M K1@BB@B 6/
#?)$-)$$&#$ '$)%6B-&)-$
$&%8%F$)#-&)&#-'%$#;(C# /BBI?+4&
$-&)$-)$($8'"%'$&#')(-#$&%$
-')$$#$DBN%$&$#+.$-)$#8$#$F$'$-')#(
F$%$&#-&#3-" ++-&#),#&'#$-'
%''-##%'#+
Materials & Procedure
&#8-#$''#$'+0>))-(,)$)#
.#-&$(:0; DDE?#-)$# 8&-&"(%%#$
&$$)OO-+)#-&+(-+-O#-)$#O'-%-+G)+&#8$&$)#%
#$' #-($(8#&8(8$#;'(? (
8((#;? $8'$:)###;'$?+&'##
$$&%--$;nK6B?8#,$#($$&$"-%-
#8$8F#$# 8&-&$&#-'$-$;nK6?8#')
#,$#8$&F#$#+4&#-'$-$$&%8#$-%'$&
'#)-%-$%$&)-)$#-'$#$&#$&'## #8#-$
%$&)##($$&$-$#($8'##$&%--$$
$&'-')#$#,-')&#($#+
Discrimination Condition. $&#-'$-$ -&#8'( 
 '$$' $':+4&#($&)"$%%-$#($8
1
$&$&#$'$)#'$&$#,'$#$%-&+4'"$&%-
%$&")'$#,#&($-$ -&8#,$$&"(G
$&#8)$$#%$&#- $&:)'$)#&-#)
($$+&-"%(-,%$-&$$&%'%)-%'"-
$&$8$&")#$"%(-,;++ <4&$#&$P>?$"%(-,;<& 
$&$#$&$>?+--# $&:)'$8"$%(-,$-
$&-&$#$$&$#,;++ <4&$#, $#$&>?+%$-')$
$8")-$-$#$&$%'G-&8$&-&'#;6)'#? -&
-')$$$%1B$#;/B)'#?+
Number Discrimination. 4&#$#,8#'%$G#%#$#:)
-&#)):'$'(#$';? ##%'($&$#(#&
8$&$& &''#;(C# /BBI?+&#8#$%8
($# 8$&$&8$#$&%$$&($#$&&$;?%BBBmsA
)"$$&'%'-$A8#,$$%<8&-&#&#'$#>+2
"%%-$(')$$&$%($8$# #&8-&%%"
$#-&$0+0;++ 008$#B($#? /+ +6 + +BH+
Area Discrimination+4&#$#,8#'%$#$#:)-&#
($$#-'$;- /BI?+&8#&88')&#(($&
%$(')&#(($&&$;?%BBBms 8#,$$%
<8&-&((#(>+2"%%-$(')$$&$%):#$&(
8((# #&8-&%%"$#-&$0+0;++ D 0B8):#
01 BB():#? /+ +6 ++BH+
E
Emotion Discrimination+4&#$#,8#'%$#$#:)-&#
'$#-'$;3$+ /B6?+&#8$8%'%-#$&$%%'$
#)-$'%'&))$%BBBms;? 8#,$$%<8&-&
%-#&))>+4$$&#$' 8$,BBN&))BBN%-%'
%%%$%''#A$8-#$8#A($&$8%-##
$&$)&#%$8;"#6 (#%$ &$$)OO888+%$')&+-'?+2(%-#
1+1EN$"# -$I$$(#"%'BBN&));++ BN? $&&
H0+0N&));++ 61+EN?+2"%%-$()#$$8%-#8&#%%-
8#$&#$$)$;++ D0+0N&))"#+1BN&)) $%+H1?#'$&$
"%%-$;++ E0+0N&))"#+11+EN&)) $%+?+4&##$H%%$
($#+BD +/ +0 +60 +HE+
Confidence Condition+4&#$#,#$-#$'$$&#-'$-$ 
8$&#') ($'9-&$&$&#&8-&#$#,$&'$
-&#$&--$#8 8)#$$8$##'$##,-&$-&#
8&-&%$8$#$&wanted$#8;C- "8@C
'## /B6@/?+-#88-&%$&---$&&)#$"
%(-, 8:)-$$&$-&8':'G$&-&-#%#--##(-&#$&
'-$;++ #?F#$+"$&%%-%%-$($8$&$8$# 
8-$%-&8&-$)$%%-#($8$&-%-;++ 
$&%%-($8<"#><$#>?"##-&8&-$)$"#'
%%-#$&$-%-;++ ($8<"#><#'8&$#>? "
#'#%"%%-#$-')-##'#+4&#relative -%-$#,
I
#:$#"#$&$)-)$$$ #$'$#$&)##($%#)#
(##;++ #<"-%$>"$?+
%$/)-$-#-'$$# "#$($($8-&'# 
-&-')$6H-%-$#;H)'#?+-&$ -&8
)#$8$&)%#$'')%$&$#;'(? ((#;? %-#
;'$?$##$&#-'$-$;$$&$-&#8)#%#$'
%'#'#$$'?+#$&#-'$-$ $&##$'8
)#$' $':+&8#,$$%<8&-&%$&#$8
F#$#8,$>+4&$8#$$&#-$-&#)(
"(G)$$$&#8 $&:)'$)#&-#)($$+4
,)-&'$"$$-&#$&#F#$ $&#-$$8$&:)$%
$&#- -&#8$&F#$#$&#-'$-$;++ 9
8&-&#&#'$#$&-#%'(?+%$-&#$&#8%$&#-$
#-'$$ -&-"%(-,$&%'%)-%'"-+#
$&#-'$-$ $&:)'$8"--#)"$
%(-,$-$&-&$#$$&$#,;++ <4&$#, $#$&
P>? ($$&-&never-"%(-,8&$&$&&#--##%#-$$&
#F#$;#'$&  -&' C$& /BBI?+
4"$&%%-$#$'$"%%-#$&)-#8$&8&-&
-&-$)$"#%-%- 8"$&%%-$&$"%%-$
($8$&$8)#$$#;++ $&Q'$$A$&'-$"($&
#'?+:') -&8#&8'($8$&$%0+0$&%$
;++ 008$B($#? $%+$&&$;++ //8$/B($#? 
D
'$$%0+B;0+0O+?+4&%%-%%-$($8$&$8$#(-'#
&$$-$#$&'$$))-&#+B '-&,$&%%-$$)$$8
F$$#(-'#&$$-$#$&$))-&#+B+&8)#$8$&
$&'$$#)'#0+B /+B +00;%'(? +66 +0 +
;%'$@++ #+HE$"#+&+BD$#'$$%+66?+
)"##-& 8&"#&8$&$-&8$$':'G$&
-&-%#--##$"-%-$#,#$&%-&#$&$8&-&$&&"
'-%- )-'$$%%-$$&$&%%-($8$8)#$
$# $&',-&$-$$&#$#$&$&'-%$
;C- "8?+8"A8#%$&$ "$&$8#8$&$
###')"-("#"-'$#$-$'#;++ <8&-&$want $
> $&$&<8&-&$'confident >? #'%$&-&#')&
#%-$below chance )%'-8&-&$&-##$$#-$$&&%$&$8
$#+ '%$&#-&8#(#F$$#$&$$&-&#$&&$#
$-&$&'#"#+2&$&#-&#-##$$)%-%$&&
$#-'#$$#$&($$%%$$($8$&-%-#$$#;8&-&#
8&$8$'$$#$? $&$#-$#('---#$($ 
$"$#%#"#$$#$-##')$#+$&## -&#$8%$
($&()#-&)&#-'##'$&$-&#-$$&#%$&$8$#;#
#$#? "$"#%$&#''8&(8##'$&$-&#-$$&
&%$&$8$#+#'-')# 8$%B-&8&#$
-#&8#)%-%&$#0-&#&8$&#(&"-##$&
'## 8&1-&#&8$&#(&"%$&$&'##+
B
$&#-& 8$$$&"$'#$&)$"(;++ -&8$&
---%BN8#'$&"---%DBN?+$&&--##'$&
#'8$&$&#B-&'"'8$&$&"$' 8#-
-')$)$%##8$&$&"$'$&))'$$#+
Results
2%#$)$#$#%'$&#-'$-$ 8&-&#"##-$
-$ 8#$$-$):#$-$#($8)-)$)#$$#
$#,#$'(  '$)-)$+(#F$ 8--$
$-##$&%--$$#8&$&-%--$-$#-##
$&$&'##+
Discrimination Condition
&$&#-'$-$)%'("-&-%$&
'##;#4(%'#$#$##$-&-? )%'#%-$($$
$-')$'(;)-$- /BI? $'(-')$'$ 
F;/ IB?K6+1E pR+BB )/ K+/E+2#%$&$-&#---$&'$
$#-#8$& r;0D?K+0/ pK+B6 ($%%%-$#%$&'(
$# r';0D?K+BE pK+1IH r;0D?K+/1 pK+BDD '#$,$$-$
-')$)#$#-&$&##;++ - /BI?+$ -&#
---"#%-$%$-&%$&$&'##;-?'(
F;0+/0 /D+B?K/6+11 pR+BB )/K+0I@F;+DH EI+1?KHD+HE pR+BB )/K+1B@
'$ F;0+1E 61+1?K1+6H pR+BB )/K+/D+
4#')%$-&-&#---#%-$%$ 8%$-&#
---$$#$$8)'$)#-&)&#-'8#$&$$ 

#$'$%-&-&#2(%-$;w?$&)-#%$&
'(  '$)#$$#)$%##;(C# 
/BBI@- /BI@.- ' G C& /BB6?+2(%-$#-#($)$
#$&#'#$-&#$'#$&$-(($-$ $&##'w#$'$#
-$($$-$+4&#'##'#$&$$&)#$$#%'(  
'$'#$($$-"#8$&$&#)'$w:$&
#$"$;++ )-#@%"8 #(C- /B6?+$)%$&#
#$##')$ $&'%$#$&)#$ 8&-&--$#%-#$$)-$%
$#$&$)$-)$#'&"(##;++ )#$%B+B-$#$&$
)$-)$#8'##HN%$# )$%$?+%' 
2(%-$#)#$#8#$'$#$&F$
Accuracy=
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Φ
(
Ratio
w
+Ratio/
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8&
Φ
#$&##-'$"#$($%-$+4&#'8#%$$-&
)$-)$#$%-&$#,##optim%-$$&##')$%'
#$($# -"$&(#$%$)'$#(''G$&$"
,&"+2#--##%%$$&$%-&:-)$%$8$&'$
#-'$-$;$)--$%%%w K08##$%$$ (C# 
/BBI@- /BI@---$%$&#-&8##$----##?+
4&#$'$w "#%$&$&'###&84( )-$)"#
#$(#&"#%-&%$&#;(C# /BBI@- /BI?+
 8%$&$-&#)%'-$&$&'##8)$
%-&$&@&88-&$&'($#$-$8$&&88$&
'$ "-"#;%?+4&##$&%($&---w
/
$ &8&8-$%$&%%-$#%;#4(/?+4&# 8--- 
-##$$8$&)"#8,;- /BI@3$+ /B6? $&#"-%'
#)-%-$-&#'(  '$)-)$+
Confidence Condition
&$&%--$#)%'("-&-%$&
'##;#4(%'#$#$##$-&-? -&#$&#%$&$8$#
EHN%$#;DHNLE+66 EI+EIM t;0D?K0+I6 pR+BB dK/+D? ##$$&$$&
#($$&$"-%-$&$8F#$#+#$&-#%#-'$ 
8%$&$-&8(#$$&$#8#$$&'$$# F;/ EI?K
/B+HB pR+BB )/K+0H+ '-&#$&#-'$-$ 8%
-$#($8--- r#R+BD )$$$#$-$+
)-$)#$8,#$&#'#%-%-8$&'(#$' 8%
$&$-&8',$-&#$&#F#$8&$&'$$8#&& F;/ 
EI?KB+BB pR+BB )/K+/B;C- "8?+$&8# -&#
-%-#-'$8#$#%$)$+$ -$- 8#%$&#'
'$$%%-$% F;+H0 HD+EB?KH+D pK+B6 )/K+/ '$ F;/ EI?K
I+HE pR+BB )/K+0/;#/-? ##$$&$$#$'%%-$%'(
)-)$ ##$$&$$&#-%-$#,-(#--##%#(#
-##"$%#$'$)#+
-#)%'-$&%--$8#'$$)$ 8%$
-&#-%-$$$&#')#-&)&#-'#$&#$&
#-'$-$ #$'$-&-&#confidence acuity;$&)-#8$&8&-&
$&-#$#&$&$-%-#$$#?#)$%'$&##(&"+2
0
#--##%%$($I-&0$#,#($-&$#$/$#,##$&
#'-$%wR0#$&#-'$-$ ($$-&#---$
%#(#F$##+4&%$w $#)#$4(+
 '#$')$$ 8%#$-$#($8'(  
'$-%-#-'$%--- #&$8,-$#8$&w ;
/ #4(/?+4&##$#$##$-$#$$$&#-'$-$##$#
')$$%'$-%-)-)$$&$#$)#$8&
-&'#-'$-&'#+
Principal Component Analyses.4%$&-%'$&'$%-&#
-%-)-)$ 8$8)-)-')$##;.#? 8&-&$$')$$
#')%#$%"(#$%-$#$&$:)$&':'')##("-; -, 
( C# /BBD?%---2(#$'$#%$&'##$&
#-'$-$ ---2(#$'$#%$&'##$&
%--$+
$&#-'$-$ $&8$&-')$#$%$&#-)$
##-$"# -#$('#+4')"$)$($ $&%-$
#;++ $&-$#($8"(#$&:$-$-')$#?8"':
$$+'(  '$-&F'))$#)$-')$# 
-##$$8$&$&$)$$$&$-&'##)$;#4(0%%-$
#?+
-$#$ -')$8#$%$&%--$ -##$$
8$&'##$'+-$##&84(0;(-#
-')$8#:$-$ $&#-$("':$$?+$##$&
6
))'$$###&8#$&$$&$8.#:$-$#%-$%%$
))$#%"-+#' #)$#$"-$&$$&)-)$
#-'$#'#)-%- -%-#-'$#'%'$#$
$&%1+
General Discussion
$$&%#$$#&8"-%'$1AD-&#
##%-%-8&-&#)-)$#-'$%'(  '$
8##-$ $&confidence9'$#"$&##''###$
-$-#$$$#%-$ :$)"#8,$#; 
 C'## /B1@C'## /B6?+2% $&% $&$-&
##1#&'##%-%-8$&$# ##$$&$
-%-#$&'$&&$")'$ ##-'((%-&
(%'#-&+
#$#&#"')-$#($$&$%-%-
)#$$#+
#$ '##%-%-#&8-&$#$-')
%'$across)-)$(#+!''# -##$$8$&
#-'$$ )-)$'$#)#$#$-$#-#;+ - /BI? 
',-##'$-')#%%-$+'##%-%-- 
$&% -$#"#$#$($8'$#"$&$-%--&
'#-()#$#-$&$##&(-##'$# (#"#
#&(($#-')-8&-&%'$#'#$("
-$:$+:') %%##8$&$##,<>8&$,$
H
%($# 8-#'##%-%-$-')$&$
-#$$&#--#$'$&$$&'#$&"#<)>+' (#"
%-8$&#)$##-'$$#,8&-&'(##$#-'$$&
#&)$G'-%'$"$&'$#;++ $ %% C
 /BB?+
- #$###$$&'-%-#-#$#%#(9-$$
"%%-#$&$$"$$&$&)#$-&"&8$','
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... Therefore, in the studies reported here, we set out to test these two predictions: (1) whether there are strong correlations between detecting accuracy in the self and others when given access to the same task (and not when using an unrelated task), and (2) whether these correlations are eliminated when controlling for individual differences in the imprecision of decisions in that task. We chose to use a task tapping into children's perception of area, an early-developing ability used previously in metacognitive tasks (Baer & Odic, 2020a;Baer et al., 2018;Salles et al., 2016). This task allows us to experimentally manipulate the imprecision of the decision by making the shapes close in size (harder, more imprecision) or disparate (easier, less imprecision), something much harder to achieve in the memory tasks used in past work. ...
... The prediction of the SDT/Simulation account is that self and other reasoning on these two tasks should correlate despite the removal of these third variable explanations, provided one critical condition is true. The SDT account requires that they will correlate if and only if they are both computed from the same decision imprecision, which is thought to be dimension-specific (Baer et al., 2018;Vo et al., 2014). That is, children's confidence in their own or another's estimate of the number of words on a page should be related, but both should be entirely unrelated to their confidence in their own or another's estimate of the emotional expression on a face. ...
... To assess individual differences in children's sensitivity to confidence, we administered the Relative Confidence Task from Baer et al. (2018). In each trial, children had to make a simple choice, like whether a yellow or blue shape is larger (see Fig. 1 and Odic, 2018). ...
Article
Full-text available
The world can be a confusing place, which leads to a significant challenge: how do we figure out what is true? To accomplish this, children possess two relevant skills: reasoning about the likelihood of their own accuracy (metacognitive confidence) and reasoning about the likelihood of others' accuracy (mindreading). Guided by Signal Detection Theory and Simulation Theory, we examine whether these two self- and other-oriented skills are one in the same, relying on a single cognitive process. Specifically, Signal Detection Theory proposes that confidence in a decision is purely derived from the imprecision of that decision, predicting a tight correlation between decision accuracy and confidence. Simulation Theory further proposes that children attribute their own cognitive experience to others when reasoning socially. Together, these theories predict that children's self and other reasoning should be highly correlated and dependent on decision accuracy. In four studies (N = 374), children aged 4-7 completed a confidence reasoning task and selective social learning task each designed to eliminate confounding language and response biases, enabling us to isolate the unique correlation between self and other reasoning. However, in three of the four studies, we did not find that individual differences on the two tasks correlated, nor that decision accuracy explained performance. These findings suggest self and other reasoning are either independent in childhood, or the result of a single process that operates differently for self and others. Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11409-021-09263-x.
... Therefore, children were given an easier version of the backward masking task in Experiment 1, where they were only required to subjectively judge whether they perceived the stimuli (two-point scale). They then conducted the four-point PAS version of Experiment 2. Although no study examined whether children could evaluate PAS, many studies about metacognition showed that children can evaluate their confidence (Baer et al., 2018;Hembacher & Ghetti, 2014;Lyons & Ghetti, 2011Salles et al., 2016). ...
... The children may have reported a more detailed subjective awareness in the four-choice response than in the two-choice response. Furthermore, 5-6-year-olds could respond to the PAS, which is consistent with previous research on metacognition in young children (Baer et al., 2018;Hembacher & Ghetti, 2014;Lyons & Ghetti, 2011Salles et al., 2016). Considering the results of this study and previous studies, 5-6-year-olds may not only report their confidence in the discrimination of visual stimuli but also their subjective awareness of visual stimuli. ...
... How might children recognize uncertainty in their own mental model? Even though previous research suggests that explicit metacognitive skills do not emerge until later school years, recent research suggests that even preschoolage children have an internal sense of uncertainty that reflects the subjective difficulty of various tasks, such as judging numerical quantities or emotional expressions (Baer et al., 2018;Vo et al., 2014). Taken together, this past work suggests that children are sensitive to the uncertainty in observed evidence and are motivated to explore when evidence is surprising or ambiguous with respect to their beliefs. ...
... The current results are consistent with the idea that a gap in knowledge can drive exploration in general. However, children differ in their metacognitive skills (Baer et al., 2018) and their rate of learning and conceptual change (Zaitchik et al., 2014). Therefore, it remains unknown what role children's ability to monitor the uncertainty in their own knowledge, compared with the extent of the gap (or rate of change) in their knowledge, plays in children's information-seeking behavior. ...
Article
How do changes in learners’ knowledge influence information seeking? We showed preschoolers ( N = 100) uncertain outcomes for events and let them choose which event to resolve. We found that children whose intuitive theories were at immature stages were more likely to seek information to resolve uncertainty about an outcome in the related domains, but children with more mature knowledge were not. This result was replicated in a second experiment but with the nuance that children at intermediate stages of belief development—when the causal outcome would be most ambiguous—were the most motivated to resolve the uncertainty. This effect was not driven by general uncertainty at the framework level but, rather, by the impact that framework knowledge has in accessing uncertainty at the model level. These results are the first to show the relationship between a learning preference and the developmental stage of a child’s intuitive theory.
... For instance, 6-year-olds, but not 4-5-yearolds, will, similarly to the Risko et al. study (2014) with adults, physically rotate a paper map as opposed to engaging in mental rotation (Armitage & Redshaw, 2022). In addition, this is the age range where children are gaining metacognitive access to their subjective uncertainty (Baer et al., 2018;Vo et al., 2014) and where the child's developing working memory abilities begin to be guided explicitly (Ahmed et al., 2022;Forsberg et al., 2021;Spanoudis et al., 2015). We will return to the role of metacognition in the sampling-remembering trade-off later on. ...
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Most work in the last 50 years on visual working memory and attention has used a classic psychophysical setup: participants are instructed to attend to, or remember, a set of items. This setup sidesteps the role of cognitive control; effort is maximal, tasks are simple, and strategies are limited. While this approach has yielded important insights, it provides no clear path toward an integrative theory (Kristjánsson & Draschkow, 2021) and, like studying a town’s walkability by having its college students run the 50-yard dash, it runs the danger of focusing on edge cases. Here, in this theoretical opinion article, we argue for an approach with a Gibsonian flavor where dynamic relationships between the agent and the environment are understood functionally, in light of an agent’s goals. This means a shift in emphasis from the performance of the mechanisms underlying a narrow task (“remember these items!”) to their control in pursuit of a naturalistic goal (“make a sandwich!”, Land & Hayhoe, 2001). Here, we highlight the sampling-remembering trade-off between exploiting goal-relevant information in the environment versus maintaining it in working memory. We present a dynamic feedback model of this trade-off – where the individual weighs the subjective costs of accessing external information versus those of maintaining it in memory – using insights from existing cognitive control models based on economic principles (Kool & Botvinick, 2018). This trade-off is particularly interesting in children, as the optimal use of internal resources is even more crucial when limited. Our model makes some specific predictions for future research: 1) an individual child strikes a preferred balance between the effort to attend to goal-relevant information in the environment versus the effort to maintain it in working memory, and 2) in order to maintain this balance as underlying memory and cognitive control mechanisms improve, the child will have to increasingly shift toward remembering.
Article
This paper presents rational inattention as a new, transdiagnostic theory of information seeking in neurodevelopmental conditions that have uneven cognitive and socio‐emotional profiles, including developmental language disorder (DLD), dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism. Rational inattention holds that the optimal solution to minimizing epistemic uncertainty is to avoid imprecise information sources. The key theoretical contribution of this report is to endogenize imprecision, making it a function of the primary neurocognitive difficulties that have been invoked to explain neurodivergent phenotypes, including deficits in auditory perception, working memory, procedural learning and the social brain network. We argue that disengagement with information sources with low endogenous precision (e.g. speech in DLD, orthography‐phonology mappings in dyslexia, numeric stimuli in dyscalculia and social signals in autism) constitutes resource‐rational behaviour. We demonstrate the strength of this account in a series of computational simulations. In experiment 1, we simulate information seeking in artificial agents mimicking an array of neurodivergent phenotypes, which optimally explore a complex learning environment containing speech, text, numeric stimuli and social cues. In experiment 2, we simulate optimal information seeking in a cross‐modal dual‐task paradigm and qualitatively replicate empirical data from children with and without DLD. Across experiments, simulated agents’ only aim was to maximally reduce epistemic uncertainty, with no difference in reward across information sources. We show that rational inattention emerges naturally in specific neurodivergent phenotypes as a function of low endogenous precision. For instance, an agent mimicking the DLD phenotype disengages with speech (and preferentially engages with alternative precise information sources) because endogenous imprecision renders speech not conducive to information gain. Because engagement is necessary for learning, simulation demonstrates how optimal information seeking may paradoxically contribute negatively to an already delayed learning trajectory in neurodivergent children. Research Highlights We present the first comprehensive theory of information seeking in neurodivergent children to date, centred on the notion of rational inattention. We demonstrate the strength of this account in a series of computational simulations involving artificial agents mimicking specific neurodivergent phenotypes that optimally explore a complex learning environment containing speech, text, numeric stimuli, and social cues. We show how optimal information seeking may, paradoxically, contribute negatively to an already delayed learning trajectory in neurodivergent children. This report advances our understanding of the factors shaping short‐term decision making and long‐term learning in neurodivergent children.
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This paper presents rational inattention as a new, transdiagnostic theory of information seeking in neurodevelopmental conditions including developmental language disorder (DLD), dyslexia, dyscalculia, and autism. Rational inattention holds that the optimal solution to minimizing epistemic uncertainty is to avoid imprecise information sources. The key theoretical contribution of this report is to endogenize imprecision, making it a function of the primary neurocognitive difficulties that have been invoked to explain neurodivergent phenotypes, including deficits in auditory perception, working memory, procedural learning, and the social brain network. We argue that disengagement with information sources with low endogenous precision (e.g., speech in DLD, orthography-phonology mappings in dyslexia, numeric stimuli in dyscalculia, and social signals in autism) constitutes resource-rational behaviour. We demonstrate the strength of this account in a series of computational simulations. In experiment one, we simulate information seeking in artificial agents mimicking an array of neurodivergent phenotypes, which optimally explore a complex learning environment containing speech, text, numeric stimuli, and social cues. In experiment two, we simulate optimal information seeking in a cross-modal dual-task paradigm, and qualitatively replicate empirical data from children with and without DLD. Across experiments, simulated agents’ only aim was to maximally reduce epistemic uncertainty, with no difference in reward across information sources. We show that rational inattention emerges naturally in specific neurodivergent phenotypes as a function of low endogenous precision. For instance, an agent mimicking the DLD phenotype disengages with speech (and preferentially engages with alternative precise information sources) because endogenous imprecision renders speech not conducive to information gain. Because engagement is necessary for learning, simulation demonstrates how optimal information seeking may paradoxically contribute negatively to an already delayed learning trajectory in neurodivergent children.
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