Late Emergence of the First Possession Heuristic: Evidence From a Small‐Scale Culture

Kanngießer, Patricia; Rossano, Federico; Tomasello, Michael

doi:10.1111/cdev.12365

Cited by 33 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Our finding that even preschool children are sensitive to privacy concerns may reflect the focus on autonomy and independence in the United States, which differs from that of more collectivist or interdependent societies (Markus & Kitayama, ). It would be valuable to gather comparative data from cultural contexts that differ in this regard (see Kanngiesser, Rossano, & Tomasello, ). Another unresolved issue concerns the role of prior experience with technology.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing Digital Privacy: Children's Moral Judgments Concerning Mobile GPS Devices

et al. 2017

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New technology poses new moral problems for children to consider. We examined whether children deem object tracking with a mobile GPS device to be a property right. In three experiments, 329 children (4-10 years) and adults were asked whether it is acceptable to track the location of either one's own or another person's possessions using a mobile GPS device. Young children, like adults, viewed object tracking as relatively more acceptable for owners than nonowners. However, whereas adults expressed negative evaluations of someone tracking another person's possessions, young children expressed positive evaluations of this behavior. These divergent moral judgments of digital tracking at different ages have profound implications for how concepts of digital privacy develop and for the digital security of children.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing Digital Privacy: Children's Moral Judgments Concerning Mobile GPS Devices

et al. 2017

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“…It would be informative to test if preferences for original objects are less pronounced or even absent in cultures where attachment objects are less typical. Relatedly, multiple studies have found cultural variation in children's reasoning about ownership and owned objects (e.g., Kanngiesser, Rossano, & Tomasello, 2015; Rochat et al, 2014). These differences suggest a fruitful arena for addressing how cultural practices may influence children's object concepts and value.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Young children’s preference for unique owned objects

Gelman

Davidson

2016

Cognition

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An important aspect of human thought is the value we place on unique individuals. Adults place higher value on authentic works of art than exact replicas, and young children at times value their original possessions over exact duplicates. What is the scope of this preference in early childhood, and when do children understand its subjective nature? On a series of trials, we asked three-year-olds (N=36) to choose between two toys for either themselves or the researcher: an old (visibly used) toy versus a new (more attractive) toy matched in type and appearance (e.g., old vs. brand-new blanket). Focal pairs contrasted the child's own toy with a matched new object; Control pairs contrasted toys the child had never seen before. Children preferred the old toys for Focal pairs only, and treated their own preferences as not shared by the researcher. By 3 years of age, young children place special value on unique individuals, and understand the subjective nature of that value.

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“…A number of studies have shown that the principle of first possession is central to both children's [5,9,10] and adults' [11] reasoning about ownership. Developmental researchers have shown that the notion that possession produces ownership is already present in young children and stays with us throughout our adult life.…”

Section: First Possession In Legal Cultural and Psychologicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research has demonstrated the relevance of the first possessor heuristic both in children and in adults [9,10]. However, it is easy to create a narrative that does not elicit the application of the first possession principle.…”

Section: Importance Of the First Possession Principle In Children Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Young Children Use Discovery and Creation Significantly More Than Adults for Deciding Ownership

Faigenbaum

Sigman

Casiraghi

2018

Child Development Research

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The present study attempted to determine differences between children and adults in the resolution of third-party property disputes involving different claims for ownership. Children (n = 110; mean age ± SD = 6.3 ± 1.2) and adults (n = 74; 37.5 ± 12.6) watched videos depicting ownership conflicts between two characters who held opposing claims over an object and were asked to decide who should own it. In the stories, each character based her claim on one of four distinct arguments: Discovery, Creation, Occupation, and Transaction. A key difference between these claims lies in the presence or absence of a "first possession" element: Discovery and Creation imply prior possession of the discovered or created object, whereas Occupation and Transaction necessarily involve a preexisting owner. We found that children assigned ownership to prior possessors in the stories twice as much as adults (Medians = 4 and 2, out of four cases, respectively; p < 0.001) and favored discoverers and creators substantially more than adults. Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of first possession in the adjudication of ownership for both children and adults. The present study deals with first possession as instantiated in Discovery and Creation episodes and provides novel quantitative evidence that children value first possession significantly more than adults. In contrast with previous studies, we found that discovery trumps creation in certain contexts, suggesting that narrative and contextual details influence children's reasoning.

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Late Emergence of the First Possession Heuristic: Evidence From a Small‐Scale Culture

Cited by 33 publications

References 37 publications

Developing Digital Privacy: Children's Moral Judgments Concerning Mobile GPS Devices

Developing Digital Privacy: Children's Moral Judgments Concerning Mobile GPS Devices

Young children’s preference for unique owned objects

Young Children Use Discovery and Creation Significantly More Than Adults for Deciding Ownership

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