Do infants have a sense of fairness?

Two experiments examined infants’ expectations about how an experimenter should distribute resources and rewards to others. In Experiment 1, 19-month-olds expected an experimenter to divide two items equally, as opposed to unequally, between two individuals. Infants held no particular expectation when the individuals were replaced with inert objects, or when the experimenter simply removed covers in front of the individuals to reveal the items (instead of distributing them). In Experiment 2, 21-month-olds expected an experimenter to give a reward to each of two individuals when both had worked to complete an assigned chore, but not when one of the individuals had done all the work while the other played. Infants held this expectation only when the experimenter could determine through visual inspection who had worked and who had not. Together, these results provide converging evidence that infants in the second year of life already possess context sensitive-expectations relevant to fairness.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Sloane, Stephanie M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Baillargeon, Renée

• social cognition
• morality
• infant development

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2011 Stephanie M. Sloane

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/24202

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/24202