Jan M Engelmann
Biographic Data
| ID | 5757682 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jan M Engelmann |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jan M |
| FAMILY NAME | Engelmann |
| SIGNATURE | ENGELMANN J M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Berkeley |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5139-0289 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 16 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
From prosociality to reciprocity
Friendships are fundamental to children's social and cognitive development. Previous research has shown that children understand the importance of various aspects of friendship, including prosocial behaviors. However, it is an open question whether children believe that prosocial behaviors should be reciprocated between friends. Across two experiments with 4- to 8-year-old participants (total N = 236), we examined how children weighed the importa…
Epistemic Curiosity in Kea Parrots and Human Children
Both human children and animals seek information following a violation-of-expectation event, but little research suggests the latter do so for the sake of it. In this preregistered experiment, we compared epistemic curiosity—the pursuit of information for its own sake—in kea parrots (Nestor notabilis) and three-year-old human children (Homo sapiens) following a violation-of-expectation event. Subjects were trained to push a tool into an apparatus…
Investigating the validity of picture-based assessments across cultures and contexts
Many childhood assessments rely on picture stimuli, but children in diverse early environments possess varying amounts of experience with pictures. Two preregistered experiments, conducted in 2022-2023, investigated whether picture assessments are valid across diverse contexts. Low-to-middle-income children ( n = 192, 2-7 years, 85 females, all Black) in their first month of formal schooling in Mombasa County, Kenya, an early environment with rel…
Anticipating disagreement enhances source memory in English- and Turkish-speaking preschool children
Metacognitive abilities like source memory are useful for justifying our beliefs to others. Do they arise because of this need? Here, we test whether circumstances that require source reporting enhance source memory. We test this in circumstances in which children anticipate a disagreement and when children speak a language with obligatory linguistic evidential marking of source (Turkish). We asked 160 English- and Turkish-speaking 3- and 4-year-…
Disagreement reduces overconfidence and prompts exploration in young children
Can the experience of disagreement lead young children to reason in more sophisticated ways? Across two preregistered studies, four- to six-year-old US children (N = 136, 50% female, mixed ethnicities, data collected 2020–2022) experienced either a disagreement or an agreement with a confederate about a causal mechanism after being presented with ambiguous evidence. We measured (1) children's confidence in their belief before and after the (dis)a…
Children and adults' intuitions of what people can believe
Two preregistered studies tested how 5- to 6-year-olds, 7- to 8-year-olds, and adults judged the possibility of holding alternative beliefs (N = 240, 110 females, U.S. sample, mixed ethnicities, data collected from September 2020 through October 2021). In Study 1, children and adults thought people could not hold different beliefs when their initial beliefs were supported by evidence (but judged they could without this evidential constraint). In …
From outcome to process
What does it mean to reason well? One might argue that good reasoning means that the outcome of the reasoning process is correct: reaching the right belief. Alternatively, good reasoning might refer to the reasoning process itself: following the right epistemic procedures. In a preregistered study, we investigated children's (4-9-year-olds) and adults' judgments of reasoning in China and the US (N = 256). Participants of all age groups evaluated …
Children's developing ability to adjust their beliefs reasonably in light of disagreement
Two preregistered experiments (N = 218) investigated children's developing ability to respond reasonably to disagreement. U.S. children aged 4–9, and adults (50% female, mostly white) formed an initial belief, and were confronted with the belief of a disagreeing other, whose evidence was weaker, stronger than, or equal to participants' evidence. With age, participants were increasingly likely to maintain their initial belief when their own eviden…
Do chimpanzees reason logically
Psychologists disagree about the development of logical concepts such as or and not. While some theorists argue that infants reason logically, others maintain that logical inference is contingent on linguistic abilities and emerges around age 4. In this Registered Report, we conducted five experiments on logical reasoning in chimpanzees. Subjects (N = 16; 10 females; M = 24 years) participated in the same setup that has been administered to child…
How children revise their beliefs in light of reasons
We investigate how the ability to respond appropriately to reasons provided in discourse develops in young children. In Study 1 (N = 58, Germany, 26 girls), 4- and 5-, but not 3-year-old children, differentiated good from bad reasons. In Study 2 (N = 131, Germany, 64 girls), 4- and 5-year-old children considered both the strength of evidence for their initial belief and the quality of socially provided reasons for an alternative view when decidin…
Young children rely on gossip when jointly reasoning about whom to believe
People rely on reputational information communicated via gossip when deciding about with whom to cooperate, whom to believe, and whom to trust. In two studies, we investigated whether 5- and 7-year-old children trust in gossip when determining a course of action. In Study 1, 5- and 7-year-old German-speaking peer dyads ( N = 64 dyads, 32 female dyads) were presented with a collaborative problem-solving task (e.g., deciding together what a creatur…
Helping in young children and chimpanzees shows partiality towards friends
Children’s Sense of Fairness as Equal Respect
Young children’s reputational strategies in a peer group context
Reputational concerns are known to promote cooperation. Individuals regularly act more prosocially when their behavior is observable by others. Here, we investigate 4- and 5-year-old (N = 144) children's reputational strategies in a competitive group setting. The aim of the current study was to explore whether children's sharing behavior is affected by the future possibility of being singled out publicly as the most generous or, alternatively, th…
Michael Tomasello
Do young children preferentially trust gossip or firsthand observation in choosing a collaborative partner
From early on in ontogeny, young children hear things being said about particular individuals. Here we investigate the ways in which testimony with social content, that is, gossip, influences children's decision‐making. We explored whether five‐year‐old ( N = 72) and seven‐year‐old ( N = 72) children trust gossip or firsthand observation in a partner choice setting. Seven‐year‐old children preferentially trusted what they had seen firsthand over …
Young children’s reputational strategies in a peer group context
Reputational concerns are known to promote cooperation. Individuals regularly act more prosocially when their behavior is observable by others. Here, we investigate 4- and 5-year-old (N = 144) children's reputational strategies in a competitive group setting. The aim of the current study was to explore whether children's sharing behavior is affected by the future possibility of being singled out publicly as the most generous or, alternatively, th…
Michael Tomasello
Do young children preferentially trust gossip or firsthand observation in choosing a collaborative partner
From early on in ontogeny, young children hear things being said about particular individuals. Here we investigate the ways in which testimony with social content, that is, gossip, influences children's decision‐making. We explored whether five‐year‐old ( N = 72) and seven‐year‐old ( N = 72) children trust gossip or firsthand observation in a partner choice setting. Seven‐year‐old children preferentially trusted what they had seen firsthand over …
Helping in young children and chimpanzees shows partiality towards friends
Children’s Sense of Fairness as Equal Respect
Young children’s reputational strategies in a peer group context
Reputational concerns are known to promote cooperation. Individuals regularly act more prosocially when their behavior is observable by others. Here, we investigate 4- and 5-year-old (N = 144) children's reputational strategies in a competitive group setting. The aim of the current study was to explore whether children's sharing behavior is affected by the future possibility of being singled out publicly as the most generous or, alternatively, th…
How children revise their beliefs in light of reasons
We investigate how the ability to respond appropriately to reasons provided in discourse develops in young children. In Study 1 (N = 58, Germany, 26 girls), 4- and 5-, but not 3-year-old children, differentiated good from bad reasons. In Study 2 (N = 131, Germany, 64 girls), 4- and 5-year-old children considered both the strength of evidence for their initial belief and the quality of socially provided reasons for an alternative view when decidin…
Young children rely on gossip when jointly reasoning about whom to believe
People rely on reputational information communicated via gossip when deciding about with whom to cooperate, whom to believe, and whom to trust. In two studies, we investigated whether 5- and 7-year-old children trust in gossip when determining a course of action. In Study 1, 5- and 7-year-old German-speaking peer dyads ( N = 64 dyads, 32 female dyads) were presented with a collaborative problem-solving task (e.g., deciding together what a creatur…
From outcome to process
What does it mean to reason well? One might argue that good reasoning means that the outcome of the reasoning process is correct: reaching the right belief. Alternatively, good reasoning might refer to the reasoning process itself: following the right epistemic procedures. In a preregistered study, we investigated children's (4-9-year-olds) and adults' judgments of reasoning in China and the US (N = 256). Participants of all age groups evaluated …
Children's developing ability to adjust their beliefs reasonably in light of disagreement
Two preregistered experiments (N = 218) investigated children's developing ability to respond reasonably to disagreement. U.S. children aged 4–9, and adults (50% female, mostly white) formed an initial belief, and were confronted with the belief of a disagreeing other, whose evidence was weaker, stronger than, or equal to participants' evidence. With age, participants were increasingly likely to maintain their initial belief when their own eviden…
Do chimpanzees reason logically
Psychologists disagree about the development of logical concepts such as or and not. While some theorists argue that infants reason logically, others maintain that logical inference is contingent on linguistic abilities and emerges around age 4. In this Registered Report, we conducted five experiments on logical reasoning in chimpanzees. Subjects (N = 16; 10 females; M = 24 years) participated in the same setup that has been administered to child…
Disagreement reduces overconfidence and prompts exploration in young children
Can the experience of disagreement lead young children to reason in more sophisticated ways? Across two preregistered studies, four- to six-year-old US children (N = 136, 50% female, mixed ethnicities, data collected 2020–2022) experienced either a disagreement or an agreement with a confederate about a causal mechanism after being presented with ambiguous evidence. We measured (1) children's confidence in their belief before and after the (dis)a…
Children and adults' intuitions of what people can believe
Two preregistered studies tested how 5- to 6-year-olds, 7- to 8-year-olds, and adults judged the possibility of holding alternative beliefs (N = 240, 110 females, U.S. sample, mixed ethnicities, data collected from September 2020 through October 2021). In Study 1, children and adults thought people could not hold different beliefs when their initial beliefs were supported by evidence (but judged they could without this evidential constraint). In …
Epistemic Curiosity in Kea Parrots and Human Children
Both human children and animals seek information following a violation-of-expectation event, but little research suggests the latter do so for the sake of it. In this preregistered experiment, we compared epistemic curiosity—the pursuit of information for its own sake—in kea parrots (Nestor notabilis) and three-year-old human children (Homo sapiens) following a violation-of-expectation event. Subjects were trained to push a tool into an apparatus…
Investigating the validity of picture-based assessments across cultures and contexts
Many childhood assessments rely on picture stimuli, but children in diverse early environments possess varying amounts of experience with pictures. Two preregistered experiments, conducted in 2022-2023, investigated whether picture assessments are valid across diverse contexts. Low-to-middle-income children ( n = 192, 2-7 years, 85 females, all Black) in their first month of formal schooling in Mombasa County, Kenya, an early environment with rel…
Anticipating disagreement enhances source memory in English- and Turkish-speaking preschool children
Metacognitive abilities like source memory are useful for justifying our beliefs to others. Do they arise because of this need? Here, we test whether circumstances that require source reporting enhance source memory. We test this in circumstances in which children anticipate a disagreement and when children speak a language with obligatory linguistic evidential marking of source (Turkish). We asked 160 English- and Turkish-speaking 3- and 4-year-…
From prosociality to reciprocity
Friendships are fundamental to children's social and cognitive development. Previous research has shown that children understand the importance of various aspects of friendship, including prosocial behaviors. However, it is an open question whether children believe that prosocial behaviors should be reciprocated between friends. Across two experiments with 4- to 8-year-old participants (total N = 236), we examined how children weighed the importa…
Psychology (12 works) · Child and Animal Learning Development (11 works) · Developmental psychology (11 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation (4 works) · Cognitive psychology (3 works) · Educational Strategies and Epistemologies (3 works) · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior (3 works) · Primate Behavior and Ecology (3 works) · Prosocial behavior (3 works)