When efficiency attenuates imitation in preschool children

Children recognise the social value of imitation but do not opt for tools that are 'normative' if they are also dysfunctional. We investigated whether children would replicate a normative method in a tool-learning task if it was instrumentally functional but less efficient than an alternative. Four- to six-year-old children were presented with a sticker-retrieving task and two equally functional tool options that differed in efficiency. The inefficient tool was highlighted as the normative option. Verbal descriptors that established the normative value of the inefficient tool (e.g., 'everybody' uses this) did not motivate children to use it. The majority of children opted for instrumental efficiency over conformity.

Automated summary

Children tend to choose tools that are more efficient rather than normative in tool-learning tasks. Even when verbal descriptors established the normative value of the less efficient tool, children still preferred the more functional option.