Fondazione GRINS
Growing Resilient,
Inclusive and Sustainable
Galleria Ugo Bassi 1, 40121, Bologna, IT
C.F/P.IVA 91451720378
Finanziato dal Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR), Missione 4 (Infrastruttura e ricerca), Componente 2 (Dalla Ricerca all’Impresa), Investimento 1.3 (Partnership Estese), Tematica 9 (Sostenibilità economica e finanziaria di sistemi e territori).
Open Access
Mistakes in decision-making can have serious consequences; while adult choice behaviour is well studied, much less is known about how children make decisions.
We study experimentally how children’s ability to avoid choice errors develops over time, focusing on both riskless and risky decisions among primary school children.
Unsurprisingly, inconsistent or erroneous choices in younger children abound. However, by ages 10–11, some display error rates comparable to adults.
We also identify a framing effect—correlation neglect—previously only studied in adults.
Our findings are consistent with a limited stochastic consideration choice model, reflecting the bounded nature of children’s decision-making.
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AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Acknowledgments: We thank Uta Bolt, Dorothea Kuebler, Lorenzo Neri, Elia Sartori, Nicola Persico and Ivan Soraperra for insightful comments. Valentino Dardanoni and Carla Guerriero acknowledge funding from the European Union’s Next Generation EU program under the GRINS - Growing Resilient, Inclusive, and Sustain- able Project (GRINS PE00000018– CUP E63C22002140007). Valentino Dardanoni also acknowledges support from PRIN 2022 (Prot.20222Z3CR7) . Carla Guerriero is additionally supported by PRIN 2022 (Prot.2022KL4J4J). The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the University Federico II of Naples: ref. 335/17/ESPA5+ICF2. Paola Manzini acknowledges support from the British Academy under grant SRG20\201008 for the work reported with adult women, ethically approved by the University of Sussex n. ER/PM392/1 (and subsequently confirmed by the University of Bristol).
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