Children are more exploratory and learn more than adults in an approach-avoid task
Intuitively, children appear to be more exploratory than adults, and this exploration seems to help children learn, but there have been few clear tests of this idea. We test whether exploration and learning change across development using a task that presents a “learning trap.” In this task, exploitation—maximizing immediate reward—may lead the learner to draw incorrect conclusions, while exploration may lead to better learning but be more costly. In Studies 1 and 2, we find that preschoolers and school-aged children explore more than adults and learn the true structure of the environment better. Study 3 demonstrates that children explore more than adults even though they understand that their choices are risky, and also shows that exploration and learning are correlated. Study 4 provides evidence for a causal link between children’s increased exploration and more accurate learning, and it shows that children use what they have learned to make decisions. Together, these studies support the idea that children may be more exploratory than adults and learn more as result.