Comments on: Children learn to share by age 7-8

By: frog

frog — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:18:17 +0000

Particularly since this doesn’t develop til the age of seven. We learn to talk (some of us) before one; we learn to walk (some of us) before one. That’s evidence of a deep, specific evolutionary link.
But seven? Most everyone can learn to use a remote control by seven — is that due to some deep evolutionary link of inter-tribal TV conflicts in the Pleistocene?

By: frog

frog — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:15:52 +0000

Why the assumption of specific “evolutionary” roots for this behavior? This seems like perfectly normal political awareness that would develop among any rational and intelligent entity, regardless of it’s evolutionary history. The fact that we have this capacity at all is an evolutionary question — but that implies nothing about “evolving hand-in-hand with intergroup conflicts”.
Groups would exist in any intelligent group of entities; any one who didn’t recognize the natural politics would be an unusual idjit, even if she was a robot constructed the day before.

By: l

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:20:32 +0000

Though most children learn to share only when they are old enough to figure out quid pro quo, some kids do so earlier…it’s just their innate niceness coming upfront.
This is my personal observation of the many children I have come across.

By: James

James — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:45:34 +0000

I hope that Kevin’s two year old is a parrot, ith a name like desert and a diet of crackers, otherwise social welfare is hastily on their way.
Interesting study, I do think most these studies are motivated by our umbrage that we are not so distant from a monkey or ape and there is a certain amount of bias towards proving the opposite.
It also seems a test of sapience, many experiments have tried to find how sapient animals are; my simple method is, “can the animal lie?”

By: arensb

arensb — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:12:14 +0000

What I find interesting in the second graph is the way the “generous” category shrinks (I assume “generous” means giving the other child an extra sweet in the prosocial and envy games).
It’s almost as if they’re moving from “it’s good to be kind to others” to “yes, but keep some for yourself”.

By: kevin

kevin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:02:42 +0000

Desert, my 2 yr old still shares just fine, but I think it is typically only with close family members. He will often spontaneously offer to give me one of his crackers (and so have less for himself), even if he only has two. It is very inconsistent though…
-kevin

By: Desert Survivor

Desert Survivor — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:14:40 +0000

Interesting study. I’ve been watching my one-year old share quite a bit (especially food), but I’ve been told that he will soon stop that. From this research it looks like it will take quite a few years before he will get back into the sharing mode.

By: Ian Tindale

Ian Tindale — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:05:16 +0000

I wonder, in fact, if it’s actually not selflessness, nor preserving an outward image of selflessness, but more to do with learning to invest in abstract power in this particular situation (in a Nietzschean- or Foucault-observed context of ‘power’).