Three-Year-Olds’ Retrospective Revaluation in the Blicket Detector Task

Abstract

We presented 3-year-olds with backward blocking and recovery from overshadowing contingencies in the blicket detector task, a causal induction task that uses binary, deterministic outcomes. Results revealed recovery from overshadowing but no backward blocking. These results are consistent with recent inferential and computational models of causal learning and induction. Our findings extend and clarify recent reports of retrospective revaluation in 3- and 4-year-olds (Sobel, D. M., Tenenbaum, J. B., & Gopnik, A. (2004). Children’s causal inferences from indirect evidence: Backwards blocking and Bayesian reasoning in preschoolers. Cognitive Science, 28, 303–333), and underscore the sophistication of causal induction processes in young children.