Decision-Making In Children: Kids Learn Rules Of Thumb With Time

In the midst of living in the modern world, numerous people are now giving value to children's right to make decisions. In connection to this, a recent study revealed that when it comes to decision-making, children learn to apply rules of thumb with time.

According to Medical Xpress, researchers at the University of California and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development investigated children's decision-making behaviors. They found that kids as young as nine years old can systematically use rules of thumb in making decisions, although they are not as good as older children especially when identifying when it becomes helpful to do so.

For instance, if one does not know the answer to a question, the person bases the judgment on things he or she recognizes. Doing so is called "recognition heuristic" that often results in a positive outcome. At present, there have been studies concerning recognition heuristic in adults while investigating it in younger people is rare.

Researchers analyzed the ability of children and young people to use recognition heuristic in answering questions in which they are not sure of the answers. The respondents were more than one hundred Italian schoolchildren who were nine, 12, and 17 years of age. They judged which cities had a bigger population and which diseases occur more in their country. Apparently, the recognition strategy is beneficial to the former and not to the latter.

As a result, the speed and accuracy of answers increased with age. Moreover, older kids did better in adapting their use of the strategy. Kids aged nine to twelve were not yet able to identify the situations wherein a recognition strategy is beneficial. Developmental Psychology published the study.

Meanwhile, NY Daily News cited the importance of allowing kids to make their own choices in everyday life. In his article published on the site, Rabbi Roger Herst, PH.D. said training kids early can turn them into good decision-making adults. They may be too young to master the rules of thumb, but they will eventually learn how to properly apply them in making good decisions in life.