Teaching and Learning

How do young children learn from natural, everyday adult instruction?

Young children encounter new objects like toys every day. How do caregivers help their children learn to use these objects? In this study, caregivers taught their 2-year-olds to put together a set of new toys. We then tested children to see what they had learned from interacting with their caregivers. We found that children learned more when they were more active with the toys while caregivers taught them: Children’s active experience was central for learning. Caregivers supported their children’s activity by providing instructions and praise. Active experience is important for learning.

Publication:
Brezack, N., Radovanovic, M., & Woodward, A. (2021). Everyday interactions support toddlers’ learning of conventional actions on artifacts. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 210, 105201.

What types of instruction help young children learn to use objects?

To follow up on the previous study, we tested whether formal instructions from an experimenter would similarly help children learn. We were curious whether active or observational experience would help children learn. In this study, an experimenter taught 2-year-olds to assemble new toys in an active style (where children put together the toys themselves) or an observational style (where children watched the experimenter put together the toys). We found that both styles of instruction helped children learn to put together the toys. But, when we tested children’s memory for the toys one year later, children remembered the toys they learned in the active style better than the ones they learned observationally. Active experience during learning is central for children’s long-term memory.

Publication:
Brezack, N., Pan, S., Chandler, J., & Woodward, A. (in preparation). Toddlers’ action learning and memory from active and observed instruction.

How does toy design support children’s learning?

Toy design can affect how caregivers and children interact with toys, and how children learn from toys. Across both previous studies, we looked at caregiver-child interactions using three different types of toys. The toys had different designs: on some toys, it was obvious how to put the pieces together, but on others, it was less obvious. We found that on toys that were more straightforward, children didn’t need much help from their caregivers to put the toys together. On toys that were less obvious, caregivers helped their children more. Children’s active experience with the toys helped them learn, supported by the toy design and help from their caregivers.

Publication:
Brezack, N. & Woodward, A. (in preparation). Teaching to the toy: Social and structural supports of toddlers’ conventional action learning.

How do exploration and instruction support children’s problem solving?

When children learn new things, sometimes they can figure everything out on their own by exploring, but other times, adults can help children learn by teaching them. In this study, we tested how 6-year-olds learned the rules in a new problem-solving game. Some children explored before receiving instruction, others were instructed without exploring first, and some explored without instruction. We found that all the children who were instructed learned the rules of the game. But, children who explored before instruction could transfer the rules they learned to new problems. Exploration before instruction is helpful for children to apply what they learn to new contexts.

Publication:
Radovanovic, M., Brezack, N., Shneidman, L., & Woodward, A. (in preparation). Exploration before instruction supports children’s rule generalization.