Learning from non-explanations: Children trust Socratic over authoritarian responses
Nina Ni Ye·Kathleen H. Corriveau·Allison J. Williams·Allison M. Chodes·Sarah Fernández Suárez·Fanxiao Wani Qiu
This research investigated 4- to 8-year-old children's learning preferences based on teachers' responses to peers' pragmatic (Study 1, 2021-2024, N = 100, Mage = 6.56 years, SDage = 1.41, 50 females, 61% White) and naturalistic (Study 2, 2024, N = 101, Mage = 6.24 years, SDage = 1.50, 57 females, 55% White) questions. Children evaluated teachers providing (i) explanations with semantic content vs. nonexplanations and (ii) nonexplanation Socratic vs. authoritarian responses. Across both studies,