How Children Decide What Challenges Are Worth Their Effort

Every day, people weigh the costs and benefits of their effort when deciding what to spend their time on. But understanding how 5- to 7-year-old children make these decisions can be less intuitive. Recent research from Brown University suggests that young children assess their perceived success on previous tough tasks to determine whether to attempt further challenges.

Metacognitive Monitoring in Young Children

The study, published in the journal Child Development, found that a child’s decision to tackle challenging tasks is often influenced by how well they believe they performed previously. Researchers evaluated children’s metacognitive monitoring—the process of evaluating one’s own performance. Sarah Kiefer, the lead author of the paper, explained that this age is a critical period for developmental changes in how children think about their own thinking.

The Gear Machine Experiment

Researchers moved away from traditional “adult paradigms” in decision-making studies, which often don’t reflect the everyday choices of children. Instead, they designed an activity that “met children where they’re at” using a structured building toy. Children built a gear machine toy, choosing between easy and hard instructions repeatedly. After each attempt, they received feedback on their accuracy, with tasks building toward the goal of completing the machine. Trials lasted between five and 15 minutes, ending when a child refused to continue or finished the toy, with or without assistance.

Success Drives Future Attempts

The results showed that success on earlier, difficult instructions significantly increased the likelihood that children would choose harder instructions later. However, performance on easier tasks did not seem to influence these decisions. According to David Sobel, a professor of cognitive and psychological sciences and principal investigator of the lab, “What mattered for the decision to choose something hard wasn’t their overall accuracy or how they did on the easy instructions, it was just how they did when they explored those hard instructions.”

Similar Metacognitive Abilities Across Ages

Interestingly, the study also found that five-year-old children demonstrated the same kind of metacognitive monitoring as seven-year-old children. This suggests that the ability to assess one’s own performance develops relatively early in childhood.

Underestimating Children’s Self-Awareness

Katherine Kupsaw, a former research assistant, highlighted a key takeaway: people often underestimate children’s ability to understand their own thoughts, feelings, and strategies. While engaging the children in the study presented challenges, the bright colors and novelty of the game helped maintain their participation. Recruiting families and children for the studies also proved difficult, potentially reflecting a broader decline in public engagement with science.

Implications for Learning and Development

This research underscores the importance of providing children with opportunities to experience both success and manageable challenges. Recognizing and acknowledging their accomplishments, particularly when they’ve overcome difficulty, can encourage them to embrace future challenges and foster a growth mindset. Understanding how children evaluate their own performance can also inform educational strategies and support their cognitive development.