Let's Experiment On My 3 Year-Old

[Kaylee]

Loss of impulsiveness and ability to see moral shades of grey, at least, are associated with myelination.

Just saw this. Thanks, always nice to learn something new!

 

[Loss Leader]

Both of your kids might be too old for this one. Around three years old, kids learn how to lie.

First have two items, one desirable and one not (candy or toy versus something like a disliked food). Ask the child which one they want but tell them which ever they pick will go to the other child and they get what's left. If they can lie, they will pick the less desirable item for their "favorite" item. Try multiple times to see if they catch on.

I don't think that the skills demonstrated by this experiment have to do with lying. I think it's impulse control and reasoning. We know that chimps cannot help but point to the larger bowl of candy. However, they can point to the smaller number (after they've learned to recognize numbers).

I think my 6 year old would figure this out within 2 tries. The 3 year old would probably get it in 4 tries.

What I'd really like to test is some sort of cooperation game. If they work together, they can share candy, if they don't then neither gets anything. I have to figure out how to do it without building cages and walls and and trap doors and stuff. Or, at least, without building more of them.

 

[Tacita]

The following will work on him until he is about 9.

Fill a measuring cup with a predetermined volume of juice, it can be any volume, you'll just need to be consistent throughout the experiment.

Find two glasses with roughly similar volume, but different shapes. A tall glass and a rocks glass are a good example, because one is narrow and the other is wide.

Pour the same volume of liquid into both glasses.

Ask your kids which has more juice. Let him watch the entire operation of you measuring equal volumes and pouring them into glasses if you wish.

You child will insist that the narrower glass contains more liquid. Volume is too complex a concept for young children. "Taller" = "more."

Um. This fools my husband.

 

[SOdhner]

Excellent thread! My own, 1st daughter is only 2 months old. I can't wait until she is old enough to know some basic math. I'll ask her, "How many fingers do I have?" Once she replies, "10", I'll say "Are you sure?" and then count backwards using my fingers: 10 (pinkie), 9 (ring), 8 (middle), 7 (index), 6 (thumb). Then ask her how many fingers remain on the other hand. Once she replies "5", I'll ask her, "...and what is 6 + 5?"

My dad did something like this to us. He would insist that he had eleven fingers, and when we said he didn't he would count them off one by one:

One,
Skip these two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight,
Nine,
(and then returning to the two he had skipped)
Ten,
Eleven.

Got us every time, even though we KNEW there was something fishy. I could see his hands had the normal number of fingers, I understood the concept of "tricks", but for the life of me I just couldn't figure out how he was doing it. Obviously it works best on children, and when said out loud.

 

[MaxMurx]

The Elmo Problem

Assumed I would be "Elmo". I see two cups. I see you placing a train under one cup. Then you ask me to wait outside. After my return you ask me: "Where is the train?" Having to wait outside means there was an action I shouldn't see. Therefore I take cup Nr.2 (the solution of the 3-year-old). Alternative: I think that by sending me out of the room you want me to think that there was an action I shouldn't see, but you cheat me perhaps, I take Nr.1.

There is no good or bad solution. Its purely random. Isn't it?

 

[Ziggurat]

I'd be interested in his response to this ...

The yellow bus is at the zoo.
All your friends are on the yellow bus.
----------------------------------------
Do you know where your friends are?

Billy's mom has three children: Penny, Nickle, and... ?

Billy!

 

[Loss Leader]

The Elmo Problem

Assumed I would be "Elmo". I see two cups. I see you placing a train under one cup. Then you ask me to wait outside. After my return you ask me: "Where is the train?" Having to wait outside means there was an action I shouldn't see. Therefore I take cup Nr.2 (the solution of the 3-year-old). Alternative: I think that by sending me out of the room you want me to think that there was an action I shouldn't see, but you cheat me perhaps, I take Nr.1.

There is no good or bad solution. Its purely random. Isn't it?

I think you've been watching The Princess Bride too much. No 3 year-old could engage in that level of supposition about the intentions of others.