Gail Heyman: UCSD Department of Psychology

The human capacity to acquire knowledge from others, rather than only relying upon what can be observed or experienced directly, opens vast opportunities for learning. As a result of this capacity, humans are highly adaptable across many contexts. However, the use of such
information can also pose difficulties. For example, sources may provide incorrect or misleading information, either intentionally or unintentionally. In this talk, I will focus on children’s evaluation of others as sources of information within one particular context: when
people talk about themselves. The findings I will present, which include data collected in the U.S. and in China, address how children’s reasoning is affected by the content of the message, and by the social context in which the communication occurs.