Children’s trust in previously inaccurate informants who were well- or poorly- informed : when past errors can be excused

Abstract

Past research demonstrates that children learn from a previously accurate speaker rather than from a previously inaccurate one. This study shows that children do not necessarily treat a previously inaccurate speaker as unreliable. Rather, they appropriately excuse past inaccuracy arising from the speaker’s limited information access. Children (N = 67) aged 3, 4 and 5 years aimed to identify a hidden toy in collaboration with a puppet as informant. When the puppet had previously been inaccurate despite having full information, children tended to ignore what they were told and guess for themselves: They treated the puppet as unreliable in the longer term. However children more frequently believed a currently well-informed puppet whose past inaccuracies arose legitimately from inadequate information access