PubMed İndeksli Yayınlar Koleksiyonu / PubMed Indexed Publications Collection
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11779/1928
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Article The Cost of Curiosity: Information-Reward Tradeoffs in Early Childhood(Elsevier Science Inc, 2026-08-01) Lucca, Kelsey; Sen, Hilal H.Curiosity is a powerful engine of learning that shapes how people explore, acquire knowledge, and adapt to their environments. Though the implications of curiosity are clear, we know little about what drives curiosity. One widely-held view is that satisfying curiosity is intrinsically rewarding. Yet there is limited direct evidence supporting this claim, particularly during early childhood-a period characterized by heightened curiosity. Here, we provide an empirical test of whether satisfying curiosity is intrinsically valuable to children by asking whether they will forego hard-earned rewards to obtain information. To examine the limits of costly curiosity, we ask whether children will give up hard-earned rewards to learn something new, even when the information to be gained is unknown and offers no immediate or long-term benefit. Critically, we test what factors (i.e., age, gender, cultural background, trait curiosity, reward availability) shape children's willingness to engage in costly curiosity. In a sample of 226 children aged 3-6 years in the United States and Turkey, nearly all children (87%) gave up rewards to obtain information. However, costly curiosity was limited, most children gave up only a few rewards (i.e., the smallest amount possible), and the extent of trading varied by gender and culture: boys traded more than girls and children in the United States traded more than in Turkey. These findings provide evidence that children's curiosity is not driven by sheer impulse, but instead, a decision-making process that weighs both costs and benefits, and is shaped by broader individual and cultural factors.Article Citation - WoS: 1Citation - Scopus: 1When Words and Pointing Compete: Young Children's Referential Comprehension Under Uncertainty(Elsevier Science Inc, 2025-12-01) Ates, A. Beyza; Kuntay, Aylin C.The present research comprised two studies examining how 2- to 4-year-old children resolve referential uncertainty. Study 1 investigated first touches-objects initially selected or touched immediately-and takeaways-objects ultimately selected or given-as two distinct object selection behaviors, along with the verbal responses accompanying them. Study 2 explored how communicative context (i.e., preactivation of familiar object labels prior to object selection) and child characteristics (i.e., age, vocabulary knowledge, and selective attention) influenced children's referential strategies. Using a modified version of Grassmann and Tomasello's (2010) paradigm, two experimental conditions were implemented: In the Familiar-Familiar condition, when presented with two familiar objects, Experimenter 1 labeled one object to be given to Experimenter 2, while pointing to the other. In the Novel-Familiar condition, when presented with one novel and one familiar object, Experimenter 1 used a novel label while pointing to the familiar object. Results demonstrated that ostensive pointing was a stronger cue than verbal labeling in guiding children's object selections. Children modified their selections between first touches and takeaways in 17-34% of trials or verbally responded to the contradiction in 13-40% of trials. Furthermore, preactivation of familiar object labels and individual characteristics-particularly age and selective attention-were linked to variations in referential strategies. These findings highlight the complexity of referential resolution, where children integrate verbal and nonverbal cues, providing nuances about communicative development and insights about how it could be supported.