Kristen A Dunfield
Biographic Data
| ID | 5759868 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kristen A Dunfield |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kristen A |
| FAMILY NAME | Dunfield |
| SIGNATURE | DUNFIELD K A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Concordia University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3353-6146 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 10 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Prosocial responses to diverse needs in urban Canadian and rural Tzotzil Maya children
This research examined 3- to 6-year-old's prosocial responses to an unfamiliar experimenter demonstrating diverse needs (instrumental, material, and emotional) in structured tasks across two distinct cultural contexts (urban Canada/Canadian vs. rural Mexico/Tzotzil Maya). Two hundred eighty participants were recruited from preschools in Zinacantán, Mexico (100% Tzotzil Maya), and Montréal, Canada (70% European descent). We compared responses to i…
Executive Function and Spatial Skills in Children’s Block Play: A Cross-Cultural Comparison
Research Findings: There are sparse data on children’s use of executive function (EF) and spatial skills in block play. However, there are important implications for studying EF and spatial skills with blocks across cultures, especially regarding best practices for supporting social-cognitive development in under-resourced populations and consideration of culturally unique customs and practices. Therefore, the current study compared EF-based skil…
Brilliance Beliefs, Not Mindsets, Explain Inverse Gender Gaps in Psychology and Philosophy
Preschoolers’ responses to prosocial opportunities during naturalistic interactions with peers: A cross‐cultural comparison
The goal of this study was to better understand similarities and differences in preschool children's expression of needs and prosocial responsiveness to peers’ needs across two culturally distinct contexts. Preschoolers were observed in a semi‐naturalistic design across rural Mexico and urban Canada, wherein they were instructed to build a tower with blocks. Three‐ to 6‐year‐olds ( N = 306; 48% female) were divided into 64 peer groups. We coded f…
Getting help for others: An examination of indirect helping in young children
When young children recruit others to help a person in need, media reports often treat it as a remarkable event. Yet it is unclear how commonly children perform this type of pro-social behavior and what forms of social understanding, cognitive abilities, and motivational factors promote or discourage it. In this study, 48 three- to four-year-old children could choose between two actors to retrieve an out-of-reach object for a third person; during…
A construct divided: Prosocial behavior as helping, sharing, and comforting subtypes
The development and maintenance of prosocial, other-oriented behaviors has been of considerable recent interest. Though it is clear that prosocial behaviors emerge early and play a uniquely important role in the social lives of humans, there is less consensus regarding the mechanisms that underlie and maintain these fundamental acts. The goal of this paper is to clarify inconsistencies in our understanding of the early emergence and development o…
Classifying Prosocial Behavior: Children's Responses to Instrumental Need, Emotional Distress, and Material Desire
This study investigates the diversity of early prosocial behavior by examining the ability of ninety-five 2- to 4-year-olds to provide aid to an adult experimenter displaying instrumental need, emotional distress, and material desire. Children provided appropriate aid in response to each of these cues with high consistency over multiple trials. In contrast to the consistency with which the children provided aid within each task, there were no cro…
The development of children's information gathering: To look or to ask
The testimony of others and direct experience play a major role in the development of children's knowledge. Children actively use questions to seek others' testimony and explore the environment. It is unclear though whether children distinguish when it is better to ask from when it is better to try to find an answer by oneself. In 2 experiments, we examined the ability of 4- and 6-year-olds to select between looking and asking to determine visibl…
Examining the Diversity of Prosocial Behavior: Helping, Sharing, and Comforting in Infancy
Prosocial behaviors are a diverse group of actions that are integral to human social life. In this study, we examined the ability of 18‐ and 24‐month‐old infants to engage in three types of other‐oriented behaviors, specifically helping, sharing, and comforting. Infants in both age groups engaged in more prosocial behavior on trials in which an unfamiliar adult experimenter required aid (experimental conditions) than on those in which she did not…
Selective information seeking after a single encounter
In 3 experiments, the authors examined whether a single act of testimony can inform children's subsequent information seeking. In Experiment 1, participants saw one informant give a correct and another informant give an incorrect answer to a question, assessed who was right (wrong), and decided to whom to address a 2nd question. Adults and 7-year-olds but not 4-year-olds selected the previously correct informant. In Experiment 2, after assessing …
Selective information seeking after a single encounter
In 3 experiments, the authors examined whether a single act of testimony can inform children's subsequent information seeking. In Experiment 1, participants saw one informant give a correct and another informant give an incorrect answer to a question, assessed who was right (wrong), and decided to whom to address a 2nd question. Adults and 7-year-olds but not 4-year-olds selected the previously correct informant. In Experiment 2, after assessing …
The development of children's information gathering: To look or to ask
The testimony of others and direct experience play a major role in the development of children's knowledge. Children actively use questions to seek others' testimony and explore the environment. It is unclear though whether children distinguish when it is better to ask from when it is better to try to find an answer by oneself. In 2 experiments, we examined the ability of 4- and 6-year-olds to select between looking and asking to determine visibl…
Brilliance Beliefs, Not Mindsets, Explain Inverse Gender Gaps in Psychology and Philosophy
Preschoolers’ responses to prosocial opportunities during naturalistic interactions with peers: A cross‐cultural comparison
The goal of this study was to better understand similarities and differences in preschool children's expression of needs and prosocial responsiveness to peers’ needs across two culturally distinct contexts. Preschoolers were observed in a semi‐naturalistic design across rural Mexico and urban Canada, wherein they were instructed to build a tower with blocks. Three‐ to 6‐year‐olds ( N = 306; 48% female) were divided into 64 peer groups. We coded f…
Getting help for others: An examination of indirect helping in young children
When young children recruit others to help a person in need, media reports often treat it as a remarkable event. Yet it is unclear how commonly children perform this type of pro-social behavior and what forms of social understanding, cognitive abilities, and motivational factors promote or discourage it. In this study, 48 three- to four-year-old children could choose between two actors to retrieve an out-of-reach object for a third person; during…
Selective information seeking after a single encounter
In 3 experiments, the authors examined whether a single act of testimony can inform children's subsequent information seeking. In Experiment 1, participants saw one informant give a correct and another informant give an incorrect answer to a question, assessed who was right (wrong), and decided to whom to address a 2nd question. Adults and 7-year-olds but not 4-year-olds selected the previously correct informant. In Experiment 2, after assessing …
Examining the Diversity of Prosocial Behavior: Helping, Sharing, and Comforting in Infancy
Prosocial behaviors are a diverse group of actions that are integral to human social life. In this study, we examined the ability of 18‐ and 24‐month‐old infants to engage in three types of other‐oriented behaviors, specifically helping, sharing, and comforting. Infants in both age groups engaged in more prosocial behavior on trials in which an unfamiliar adult experimenter required aid (experimental conditions) than on those in which she did not…
Classifying Prosocial Behavior: Children's Responses to Instrumental Need, Emotional Distress, and Material Desire
This study investigates the diversity of early prosocial behavior by examining the ability of ninety-five 2- to 4-year-olds to provide aid to an adult experimenter displaying instrumental need, emotional distress, and material desire. Children provided appropriate aid in response to each of these cues with high consistency over multiple trials. In contrast to the consistency with which the children provided aid within each task, there were no cro…
The development of children's information gathering: To look or to ask
The testimony of others and direct experience play a major role in the development of children's knowledge. Children actively use questions to seek others' testimony and explore the environment. It is unclear though whether children distinguish when it is better to ask from when it is better to try to find an answer by oneself. In 2 experiments, we examined the ability of 4- and 6-year-olds to select between looking and asking to determine visibl…
A construct divided: Prosocial behavior as helping, sharing, and comforting subtypes
The development and maintenance of prosocial, other-oriented behaviors has been of considerable recent interest. Though it is clear that prosocial behaviors emerge early and play a uniquely important role in the social lives of humans, there is less consensus regarding the mechanisms that underlie and maintain these fundamental acts. The goal of this paper is to clarify inconsistencies in our understanding of the early emergence and development o…
Getting help for others: An examination of indirect helping in young children
When young children recruit others to help a person in need, media reports often treat it as a remarkable event. Yet it is unclear how commonly children perform this type of pro-social behavior and what forms of social understanding, cognitive abilities, and motivational factors promote or discourage it. In this study, 48 three- to four-year-old children could choose between two actors to retrieve an out-of-reach object for a third person; during…
Preschoolers’ responses to prosocial opportunities during naturalistic interactions with peers: A cross‐cultural comparison
The goal of this study was to better understand similarities and differences in preschool children's expression of needs and prosocial responsiveness to peers’ needs across two culturally distinct contexts. Preschoolers were observed in a semi‐naturalistic design across rural Mexico and urban Canada, wherein they were instructed to build a tower with blocks. Three‐ to 6‐year‐olds ( N = 306; 48% female) were divided into 64 peer groups. We coded f…
Brilliance Beliefs, Not Mindsets, Explain Inverse Gender Gaps in Psychology and Philosophy
Executive Function and Spatial Skills in Children’s Block Play: A Cross-Cultural Comparison
Research Findings: There are sparse data on children’s use of executive function (EF) and spatial skills in block play. However, there are important implications for studying EF and spatial skills with blocks across cultures, especially regarding best practices for supporting social-cognitive development in under-resourced populations and consideration of culturally unique customs and practices. Therefore, the current study compared EF-based skil…
Prosocial responses to diverse needs in urban Canadian and rural Tzotzil Maya children
This research examined 3- to 6-year-old's prosocial responses to an unfamiliar experimenter demonstrating diverse needs (instrumental, material, and emotional) in structured tasks across two distinct cultural contexts (urban Canada/Canadian vs. rural Mexico/Tzotzil Maya). Two hundred eighty participants were recruited from preschools in Zinacantán, Mexico (100% Tzotzil Maya), and Montréal, Canada (70% European descent). We compared responses to i…
Psychology (10 works) · Developmental psychology (9 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Child and Animal Learning Development (6 works) · Prosocial behavior (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Helping behavior (5 works) · Cognition (4 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (3 works) · Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior (3 works)