The Limits of Agency: Young Children's Memory May Not Benefit From Choice.

Abstract

It is commonly claimed that curiosity, agency, and choice enhance learning and memory in children. However, the few studies that have investigated this in young children reveal mixed effects on memory. To test this, in Experiment 1, children aged 4-7 years watched short cartoon clips and then viewed one of two endings: either in an "active" condition, where they made choices about which ending to view, or a "yoked" condition, where choices were made for them. A surprise memory test conducted 6-8 days later showed no significant difference between conditions in either recognition or binding tasks. In Experiment 2, a within-subject design was employed to control for individual differences. Again, no significant differences were found between conditions. Bayes factor analyses provided evidence supporting the null hypothesis in this child-friendly, cartoon-based paradigm. While our findings suggest that, under these specific task conditions, the agency does not enhance memory in 4- to 7-year-olds, further research is needed to clarify whether different task structures, feedback, or age groups might reveal more robust effects. Potential boundary conditions and developmental implications are discussed.