The effects of decision characteristics on children's selective search of predecisional information

acta psychologica

ELSEVIER Acta Psychologica 92 (1996) 263-281

The effects of decision characteristics on children's selective search of predecisional information

D e n i s e D a v i d s o n *

Department of Psychology, Loyola University of Chicago. 6525 N. Sheridan Raod, Chicago, IL 60626, USA

Received 26 September 1994; revised 21 March 1995; accepted 6 April 1995

A b s t r a c t

In the present research, an information-board procedure was used to examine second and fifth grade children's selective search of predecisional information. Several conditions were used to facilitate children's selective search of information, including putting decisions within meaningful contexts (i.e., stories), increasing the perceptual salience of some of the dimensions on the information boards, and constraining the amount of time and the amount of information children could take when searching predecisional information. It was found that both second and fifth graders' predecisional search became more selective when the perceptual salience of some of the dimensions was increased. Children also became more selective in their searching over successive decisions. In contrast, the information constraint resulted in less selective searching, and less choosing of the best alternative for both second and fifth graders, whereas the time pressure decreased second but not fifth graders' selectivity in searching. Thus, without sufficient mastery of a search strategy, children may resort to using less sophisticated strategies, particularly under time and information pressures. These results are discussed in terms how the development of selective search and attentional strategies may impact both predecisional search behavior and the quality of children's decisions.

PsyclNFO classification: 2820

Keywords: Decision making; Selective attention; Child development

1. I n t r o d u c t i o n

Numerous skills may be called upon when making a decision. One particularly important skill is making use of information about one 's choices before making a

* E-mail: [email protected].

0001-6918/96/$15.00 Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. SSDI 0001-6918(95)00014-3

264 D. Daridson / Acta Psychologica 92 (1996) 263-281

decision. Although research on children's decision-making is limited, several recent studies have used an information-board procedure to assess how children gather and use predecisional information in order to make a decision (Davidson, 1991 a,b; Davidson and Hudson, 1988). With the information-board procedure, a matrix of information is presented and the decision-maker is free to examine as much or as little information as he or she wants, and in any sequence. On the basis of this information the decision-maker must choose one of the alternatives. This procedure has routinely been used to examine adult decision-making (see Ford et al., 1989, for a review) and, recently, children's decision-making as well (Davidson, 1991a,b; Klayman, 1985).

From developmental studies it has been found that young children (7 and 8 years old) do not systematically seek out specific predecisional information prior to making a decision, although they readily rate some attributes about an alternative (e.g., the color of a bicycle) as important for deciding. That is, prior to age 9 or 10, children generally search predecisional information exhaustively, but without any systematic plan. Previous research has also shown that even when the decision task was designed so that some dimensions were more relevant than others (Davidson, 1991a), or when only a subset of information was needed in order to make a decision (Davidson, 1991b), 7- and 8-year-olds continued to search a large proportion of the total information available.

In contrast, by 10 years of age or so, children more readily focus their attention on relevant dimensions, and their attention to relevant dimensions generally leads them to select an appropriate alternative (Davidson, 1991a). Still, improvements in selectively searching predecisional information continues to be seen in even older children (13- and 14-year-olds), suggesting that selective search strategies develop gradually throughout childhood (Davidson, 1991 b).

However, it is not known from previous studies if children have more selective predecisional search strategies in their repertoire than the ones they routinely use. For example, previous research using selective memory and same-different tasks has shown that a variety of conditions are often needed to assess children's complete repertoire of strategies in a given domain (Miller, 1990; Woody-Ramsey and Miller, 1988). Specifi- cally, these tasks, like the information-board procedure, also require children to search a matrix of information. For instance, on the selective memory task, children are presented with a matrix of information, but in the form of a box with doors arranged in rows and columns on the top of the box. On the surface of the door is a drawing of either a cage (to indicate that a picture of an animal is underneath it), or a drawing of a house (to indicate that a picture of a household object is underneath it). Children are asked to remember the location of either the animals or the household objects. Through the use of this task, Miller and her colleagues have found that certain conditions facilitate children's selectivity in searching, such as putting the task within a meaningful story context (e.g., DeMarie-Dreblow and Miller, 1988; Woody-Ramsey and Miller, 1988). In turn, they have argued that a variety of conditions are necessary in order to fully examine children's repertoire of strategies for searching information (see, e.g., Woody- Ramsey and Miller, 1988).

In the present research, four conditions were used in conjunction with an information-board procedure in order to thoroughly examine children's strategies for searching predecisional information. Also examined was how various decision character-

D. Dat'idson /Acta Psychologica 92 (1996) 263-281 265

istics, such as time and information constraints, affected children's search and subsequent use of predecisional information. One of the conditions used with the information-board procedure was to put decisions within a meaningful context. As noted above, at least for selective memory tasks, previous research has shown that young children become more selective in their search of information when the task is put within a story context (Woody-Ramsey and Miller, 1988). Therefore, in the present research some of the children were read, prior to their search of predecisional information, a story describing another child and the decision he or she had to make. Mentioned in each story were three attributes that the child in the story wanted in an alternative. Thus, a selective strategy would be for children to focus their searches on the dimensions given in the story.

A second facilitating condition was used, given that a story alone may not substan- tially increase children's attention to relevant dimensions (Davidson, 1991a). For example, it is possible that the story would increase children's initial attention to relevant dimensions, but over time children would not continue to use this information. Thus, in the highlighted dimensions condition, three cards, each with a dimension on it from the story, were placed above the appropriate dimension columns on the information board. In doing so, children did not have to remember the relevant story information.

It was also noted if children's search of information became more selective by constraining the amount of time children had to search information, or by constraining the amount of information children could search. Both time and information constraints have been shown to increase adults' use of selective search strategies up to a certain point (see Ford et al., 1989, or Svenson and Maule, 1993, for a review). In fact, prior research with adults suggests that there is a range of adaptations to time pressure. According to Ben Zur and Breznitz (1981), adults typically react to decision time pressure in one of three ways. First, using the same decision strategies, they may accelerate their search of information, in an attempt to process it faster. A second adaptation is to use filtration, in which they look at only the most important subset of information. Finally, some decision makers react to time pressure by using completely different strategies or methods for searching information. Interestingly, from a developmental perspective, the former two adaptations may be more likely than the latter one. At least for the youngest children (7- and 8-year-olds), the task constraints used in the present research may not change the strategies children use. This prediction is supported by the work of Siegler (1990), who examined how different types of instructions affected children's strategies for solving subtraction problems. Specifically, Siegler found that second grade children were influenced by instructions to the extent that they were faster in a speed-emphasis condition and more accurate in an accuracy-emphasis condition, although the general strategies they used to solve problems did not change.

Finally, this research examined if children's search of predecisional information in all conditions would become more selective with successive decisions (i.e., children made three decisions). Examining children's search of information over successive decisions, and the potential improvements in their strategies for searching information, is analo- gous to the microgenetic approach recently employed in other developmental domains (e.g., Kuhn, 1989; Schauble, 1990). In general, however, most studies assessing children's strategies for gathering information have not assessed the extent to which

266 D. Davidson / Acta Psychologica 92 (1996) 263-281

children become more selective with experience, and of those which have, improvements in strategies generally cannot be assessed without weeks of repeated testing. In contrast, the decision-making task affords an immediate assessment of improvements in children's selection of search strategies. Importantly, improvements in children's selectivity across decisions would suggest that children can learn to use more selective strategies on their own.

Taken together, these manipulations should provide valuable information on several planes. First, more could be learned about how children's decision-making is affected by characteristics of the decision, particularly time and information constraints. To this author's knowledge, no previous studies have examined how children's decision-making is affected by these pressures. In contrast, in this research it was noted how such constraints (1) affected children's search of predecisional information, (2) affected children's post-decisional confidence, and (3) affected the quality of children's decisions. These results could then be examined in terms of what we know about adult's decision-making under similar constraints.

For example, a fair amount of recent attention has been given to how adults respond to time constraints (e.g., Svenson and Maule, 1993). Using both computer simulation and actual decision-making, Payne and his colleagues have shown that some decision rules produce better decisions under time constraints than others (Johnson et al., 1993; Payne et al., 1988, 1990). Specifically, when faced with severe time pressure, decision strategies which result in a quick evaluation of many alternatives on a single dimension (e.g., lexicographic, elimination-by-aspects) generally lead to better choices than more compensatory, exhaustive strategies (although other context factors, such as the amount of information available, may affect these outcomes). Of interest in the present research was whether children's reaction to time pressure would reflect this shift toward noncompensatory, intradimensional strategies.

The present research also provided information about the development of children's ability to selectively attend to information. Specifically, by examining children's strategies for selectively searching predecisional information, and the development of these search strategies, an assessment could be made of a recently posited model of selective attention development. According to Miller (1990), the development of children's selective search strategies is closely related to the development of selective attention strategies because selectively searching information may be dependent upon the fact that some, but not all of the available information, need be attended to and processed. In turn, by examining the development of selective search strategies (using selective memory and same-different tasks), Miller and her colleagues have provided evidence for a four-step sequence of selective attention development (e.g., DeMarie-Dreblow and Miller, 1988; Miller, 1990; Miller et al., 1991; Woody-Ramsey and Miller, 1988). However, prior to the present research, this sequence has not been tested outside of the selective memory and same-different tasks from which it was conceptualized.

Although the reader is referred to Miller (1990) for a complete discussion of this sequence, briefly, development occurs as follows. In the first step, young children do not produce a selective search strategy. Instead, they search information randomly or by following the spatial layout of the information. Young children's behavior may be systematic (e.g., searching top-to-bottom, left-to-right), but generally not strategic or

D. Davidson / Acta Psychologica 92 (1996) 263-281 267

planful (Miller, 1990). In the second step, children partially produce a selective strategy. Children may search some of the information that is relevant for solving a problem, but their attention is not focused predominately on relevant information. In contrast, in the third step children produce the selective strategy mandated by the task, but the strategy does not yet aid their performance (i.e., an utilization deficiency). Finally, in the fourth step, children fully produce a selective attention strategy and benefit from it in their recall.

Importantly, in the present research, the information-board procedure allowed for an assessment of this sequence in a domain apart from the one in which it was determined. It also allowed for an examination of how the development of selective search and attentional strategies affect children's decision-making. Of particular interest was whether placement in a step (i.e., the degree of selectivity in searching) was due strictly to development, or if placement could be manipulated by the demands of the decision.

2. Method

2.1. Subjects

Participants were 45 second graders (mean age 7.6; range 7.2-8.2), and 45 fifth graders (mean age 10.7; range 10.3-11.4) from schools in primarily middle-class neighborhoods of Chicago and Evanston, Illinois. From each grade, nine children were randomly assigned to one of five conditions: no story, story alone, story plus highlighted dimensions, story plus time constraint, and story plus information constraint. In each age group, the number of males and females was approximately equal.

2.2. Materials and procedure

Information boards (40 × 60 cm) were constructed for four decisions: choosing a bicycle, a book, a computer game, and a kite. The practice board (kite) and each of the experimental boards consisted of 6 alternatives (e.g., bikes), and information about the alternatives on 6 dimensions (e.g., cost), for a total of 36 pieces of information on a board. Each piece of dimension information (see Table 1) was covered with a small card prior to the start of the experiment. Three stories were also constructed, which described a child and three dimensions that the child wanted in either the bicycle, book, or computer game. An illustration of the bicycle board (and the bicycle story) is shown in Table 1. The information boards used for the computer game and book decisions, as well as the accompanying stories, can be found in Davidson (1991a).

The children, tested individually, were first shown the practice board (kites) and were told to point to information they wanted to see. After the second piece of information was uncovered (the experimenter uncovered the information), they were told "When you think you have enough information to make a decision, stop, and let me know which kite (e.g.) you'd like." Consistent with the methodology of previous research (Davidson, 1991a,b), in both the practice and experimental conditions information that was uncovered remained uncovered throughout the decision process.


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Following the practice session, children were shown each of the experimental boards completely uncovered. This was done so that children would not uncover information solely out of curiosity. Then in a counterbalanced order, the children in the no story condition were asked to search information from each board and decide on an alternative that they thought another child like themselves would like the best. Instructions were framed in reference to another child so that in the no story and story conditions children were asked to take the role of another child when making a decision (see below).

The same information boards used in the no story conditions were presented in the same manner in the other conditions. However, in the story alone condition the story was read outloud by the experimenter prior to children's searching of information. The children were told to put themselves in the place of the child in the story and to choose the item (e.g., bicycle) that the child in the story would like the most. The children, however, were not explicitly told to search on these story dimensions. The highlighted dimensions condition was identical to the story alone condition, with the exception that following the presentation of a story, three yellow cards, each with a dimension from the story printed on it, were placed directly above the appropriate dimension columns on the information board. The children were not told that they had to search on these dimensions; instead, they were told that the card would be placed above the appropriate column so that they could remember that this was something the child wanted in the alternative (e.g., lots of color on the bicycle).

The time and information constraint conditions were identical to the story alone condition, with the exception that children were told either that they had only three minutes to search information and make a decision, or that they could uncover only eight pieces of information before making their decision. Pilot testing revealed that second and fifth graders took approximately four to five minutes to make a decision with a 6 X 6 information board, thus all of the children should have been constrained (but not unduly so) by this limit. Three-minute hourglass egg timers were placed in front of the board so that the children could see how much time they had left.

A constraint of eight pieces of information was made on the basis of previous research which has found that second and fifth graders routinely uncover at least 12 or more pieces of information from 6 X 6 information boards (Davidson, 1991a,b). So that these children could keep track of how much information they had uncovered, the children were given eight pieces of paper and were told that after selecting a piece of information, they were to give one of the slips of paper to the experimenter.

2.3. Scoring and coding

A written record was kept of each piece of information uncovered, the exact order information was examined, the time it took to select the information, children's final decisions, and children's post-decisional confidence. Children's confidence about their decisions was measured by asking children to rate how good a decision they thought they had made immediately after each decision. A 5-point scale was used, with 1 representing 'very poor' and 5 representing 'very good'.

270 D. Dat'idson / Acta Psychologica 92 (1996) 263-281

3. Results

The degree to which children in each condition were selective in their searching was noted across conditions and with each successive decision using the measures described below. Based on these results, an assessment could be made of the generality of the four-step sequence of selective attention development. Subsequently, it could be determined if children's placement in a step was affected by the demands of the decision.

A mixed-model analysis of variance was conducted on the results of each of the measures, and unless otherwise noted, between-subjects variables were grade and condition, and the within-subject variable was decision order (i.e., first, second, or third decision). Mixed-model analyses of variance were also conducted with decision situation (e.g., bicycle) as a within-subjects variable. However, decision situation did not enter into any significant effects; thus, the results are collapsed across decision situation in the tables. In addition, because the constraint conditions limited the degree to which the means and variances were free to vary, univariate analyses were performed with Geisser-Greenhouse correction (Keppel, 1982). Also, arcsin transformations were performed on proportion data (Winer et al., 1991). When appropriate, interaction comparisons, simple main effects analysis and post hoc Tukey tests (p < 0.05) were used to assess significant three-way and two-way interactions, and main effects in the data.

3.1. Children's selectivity in searching information

3.1.1. Proportion of information searched and the amount of time taken to search information

Research on adult decision-making suggests that efficient decision-makers develop strategies that often allow them to make decisions based on an optimal subset of available information (Payne, 1976). For example, previous research has shown that adults will often use noncompensatory, nonexhaustive search strategies, particularly when it would be unwieldy to search all of the information provided (e.g., Svenson, 1979). In the present research, the story information provided children with a method of searching an optimal subset of information.

The proportions of information searched in each condition are shown in Table 2. A mixed-model analysis of variance conducted on the data revealed a grade X condition interaction, F(4,80) = 2.91, p < 0.027, and main effects of grade, F(I,80) = 31.19, p < 0.0001, and condition, F(4,80) = 38.16, p < 0.0001. In comparison to children's search in the other conditions, both second and fifth graders in the highlighted dimensions condition searched the smallest proportion of total information (see Table 2). However, this difference between conditions was more pronounced for younger children. As shown in Table 2, fifth graders searched proportionately less information than second graders, except in the information constraint condition, where both groups of children searched the maximum amount of information allowed, (all ps < 0.05).

A mixed-model analysis of variance conducted on the time it took to make a decision (i.e., from the first piece of information selected to the last piece of information selected), revealed a grade X condition interaction, F(4,80) = 3.50, p < 0.05, and main effects of grade, F(I,80) = 8.70, p < 0.005, and condition, F(4,80) = 5.21, p < 0.01.

D. Davidson / Acta Psychologica 92 (1996) 263-281 271

Table 2 Mean proportion of information searched and mean amount of time taken to search information in each condition

Conditions

No Story Story plus Story plus Story plus story alone highlighted time information

dimensions constraint constraint

Grade 2 5

Mean proportion of information searched 0.76 0.67 0.41 0.69 1.00 0.45 0.36 0.30 0.38 1.00

Mean amount of time to search information 5.01 4.40 4.07 3.00 1.09 4.12 3.50 3.50 3.00 1.10

Note: In the information constraint condition the children searched the maximum proportion of information allowed (eight pieces). Amount of time is in minutes and seconds.

Both second and fifth graders took more time in the no story condition than in the other conditions (see Table 2). Second graders took more time in the story alone condition than in the highlighted dimensions condition, while fifth graders took similar amounts of t ime in these two conditions, all p s < 0.05, (see Table 2). Importantly, while children in the story alone and the time constraint condition searched a similar proportion of information, children in the story alone condition took more time to do so. Thus, the time constraint condition elicited faster searching of information, but as shown below, not necessarily more selective searching. Decision order did not enter into any significant effects for the proportion of information searched or for the time measure.

3.1.2. Proportion o f information searched on relevant dimensions

The proportion of information searched on relevant dimensions (i.e., the three pieces of information mentioned in the stories) was examined, as a selective strategy would have been to focus on this information. Children in the no story condition were included in the analysis in order to determine how likely they would be to search on these dimensions without a story present. The data are presented in Table 3. Analysis of the data revealed a condition X decision order interaction, F ( 8 , 1 6 0 ) = 1.97, p < 0.05, and main effects of grade, F(1,80) --- 16.56, p < 0.0001, condition, F(4,80) = 5.80, p < 0.0001, and decision order, F ( 2 , 1 6 0 ) = 5 . 3 7 , p < 0.006. In the story conditions, a greater proportion of relevant information was searched on the third decision than for the first decision (for second graders the mean proportions were for each successive decision: 0.50, 0.53, and 0.57; for fifth graders the mean proportions were 0.65, 0.69, 0.72). Overall, in the story conditions fifth graders ( M = 0.69) searched proportionately more information on relevant dimensions than second graders ( M = 0.55), and second and fifth graders searched proportionately more information on relevant dimensions in the highlighted dimensions condition than in the other conditions, all ps < 0.05, (see Table 3).

272 D. DaL,idson /Acta Psychologica 92 (1996) 263-281

Table 3 Mean proportion of information searched on relevant dimensions and mean proportion of times best alternative chosen in each condition

Conditions

No Story Story plus Story plus Story plus story alone highlighted time information

dimensions constraint constraint

Grade 2 5

Mean proportion of information searched on relevant dimensions 0.50 0.51 0.69 0.51 0.47 0.50 0.63 0.77 0.65 0.70

Mean amount of times best alternative chosen 0.37 0.64 0.85 0.56 0.56 0.59 0.93 0.89 0.85 0.56

Note: No story condition included for comparison; best alternatives defined in text.

However, no support was found for the prediction that children in the story alone condition would initially attend to relevant dimensions, but not maintain attention to them. In general, children who searched on the relevant dimensions did so throughout the decision process. Addit ionally, analysis of chi ldren 's search of irrelevant information was conducted to determine if children would search some irrelevant dimensions more than others, particularly the 'amount of rust ' bicycle dimension because it was indirectly mentioned in the story (i.e., the hypothetical chi ld ' s existing bicycle was 'o ld and rusty') . The only finding was that fifth graders searched less information on each of the irrelevant dimensions than second graders ( p s < 0.05). The ' rust ' dimension was not examined more so than other dimensions.

3.1.3. Proportion o f times children selected the best alternative In the story conditions, one alternative on each board possessed all three of the

attributes mentioned in the story and thus should have been chosen over the other alternatives. Conditions which resulted in more selective searching should more readily lead to the selection of the best alternative than conditions which did not evoke selective searching. Children in the no story condition were included in the analysis to determine how likely children would choose the 'bes t ' alternatives without a story present. The results of this measure are shown at the bottom of Table 3. A grade X condition interaction was found, F(4,80) = 2.49, p < 0.05, and main effects of grade, F ( I , 80 ) = 7.98, p < 0.006, and condition, F(4,80) = 6.32, p < 0.0001. Second graders in the highlighted dimensions condition selected the best alternative significantly more often than second graders in the other conditions. Fifth graders selected the best alternative almost equally often in the story alone, highlighted dimensions, and time constraint conditions, but were considerably less l ikely to choose the best alternative in the no story and the information constraint conditions, ps < 0.05, (see Table 3). Decision order did not affect the proportion of times children selected the best alternative.

D. Dat'idson / Acta Psychologica 92 (1996) 263-281 273

3.1.4. Proportion of interdimensional, intradimensional, and shift search patterns As established in research on adult decision-making, information searches can be

classified into three search patterns: interdimensional, intradimensional, and shifts (e.g., see Payne, 1976, for a complete discussion). Interdimensional searching results when one searches successively on one alternative across dimensions; intradimensional searches results when one searches successively on one dimension across alternatives; and shift search patterns are characterized by searching on one alternative or dimension and then on a completely different alternative or dimension. Because random searches should result in a preponderance of shifts, children who are more selective in their searching should show fewer shifts.

Proportions of search patterns are shown in Table 4. Mixed-model analyses of variance conducted on each search type revealed, for the interdimensional data, a grade X condition × decision order interaction, F(8,160) = 2.91, p < 0.005, and main effects of grade, F(1,80) = 6.81, p < 0.01, condition, F(4,80) = 3.02, p < 0.02, and decision order, F(2,160) = 6.72, p < 0.002. Interaction comparisons revealed that second graders showed more interdimensional searching with successive decisions except in the information constraint condition, and that fifth graders showed more interdimensional searching between the first and third decisions except in the no story condition, ps < 0.05. Post hoc Tukey tests showed that, overall, fifth graders (M = 0.50) exhibited more interdimensional searching than second graders (M = 0.35), and less interdimensional searching was seen in the information constraint condition (see Table 4).

However, a mixed-model analysis of variance on the intradimensional data revealed no significant findings, while main effects of grade, F(1,80) = 4.2, p < 0.05, condition, F(4,80) = 3.68, p < 0.008, and decision order, F(2,160) = 7.93, p < 0.001, were found for the shift data. Tukey tests revealed that fifth graders (M = 0.33) showed less shifts in their searching than second graders (M = 0.40); more shifts were seen in the information constraint condition; and less shifts were seen with successive decisions, ps < 0.05, (see Table 4).

3.2. Children's post-decisional confidence

Very few differences were found in children's confidence ratings. A mixed-model analysis of variance revealed only a grade × condition interaction, F(4,80)= 3.31, p < 0.02. The overall mean confidence rating for second graders was 4.4 and for fifth graders, 4.3. The only significant difference was that fifth graders' confidence ratings in the information constraint condition were significantly lower ( M = 3.0) than their ratings (and the second graders' ratings) in the other conditions.

3.3. Assessment of a four-step sequence of selectiL, e attention deL, elopment

In previous research using selective memory and same-different tasks, several factors related to children's search of information were used in order to place children in a step in the sequence (see Miller, 1990, for a review). These factors included: the proportion of information searched on relevant task attributes, the proportion of times the best alternatives were chosen and whether search of relevant information led to the selection

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of the best alternatives, and how exhaustive children were in their searching (i.e., generally more exhaustive searches revealed little strategy use). In the present research, similar factors were used to place children into a step in the sequence. Specifically, placement into a step was based on (1) the proportion of chi ldren 's searches focused on relevant dimensions, (2) how information was searched (e.g., spatially, or interdimen- sionally, etc.), (3) how often the 'bes t ' alternatives were chosen (because no clear-cut criteria for selecting alternatives were given to children in the no story condition, this condition was not assessed), and (4) how exhaustive children were in their searching of information. Exhaustive searches were defined as 90% or more of the total information searched; almost exhaustive searches were defined as at least 6 0 - 7 0 % of the information searched; and nonexhaustive searches were defined as less than 60% of the information searched. These proportions are generally in line with those used on selective memory and same-di f ferent tasks (see Miller, 1990).

Using these measures, several different methods of searching information were classified under each step. These methods are shown in Table 5 from least to most

selective. Information searches that were random (i.e., preponderance of shifts), or were spatial

in nature (i.e., simply top-to-bottom, left-to-right) were classified as step one. Interdi- mensional searches were not seen as spatial searches because interdimensional moves were made up of moves on the same alternative but not necessarily on dimensions that were spatially next to each other; also, intradimensional searches were often made up of moves that were on the same dimension, but not spatially next to each other. Step two consisted of the partial use of strategies. In this study, partial strategies included exhaustive searches that were either inter- or intradimensional (which were viewed as equally strategic), but which were not on relevant dimensions, and which did not generally result in the best alternative being chosen. Step three (utilizational deficiency) was reflected in systematic and selective methods of searching (i.e., nonexhaustive, on relevant dimensions, few shifts) but did not result in the best alternative being chosen. Finally, information searches classified in step four were those that were nonexhaustive, inter- or intradimensional, focused on relevant dimensions, and resulted in the best alternative being chosen.

In order to assess the effects of successive decisions on the frequency of second and fifth graders in each step, across conditions and successive decisions, a log-linear analysis was conducted. A log-linear analysis was used because of the categorical nature of the data, the abili ty of such an analysis to examine change in strategy use with repeated decisions, and the ability of such an analysis to examine how much difference there is between the sums of the effects of the variables taken individually and

Notes to Table 5: a Proportions based on 27 search patterns per condition (i.e., 3 searches per 9 children). For example, 0.07 resulted when 2 out of 27 searches were of a particular method. b NS = no story, SA = story alone, SH = story with highlighted dimensions, TC = story with time constraint, and IC = story with information constraint.

See text for definitions. d NRD: searches not focused on relevant story dimensions; RD: searches focused on relevant story dimensions.

D. Dat,idson / Acta Psychologica 92 (1996) 263-281 277

collectively (Feinberg, 1980). Grade, condition, decision order, and subsequent interactions served as independent variables and were added hierarchically to the log-linear model. The dependent variable was the number of cases in a cell in the cross-tabulation. It was found that the model containing only grade and condition provided an excellent fit of the data, X2(57)= 29.44, p > 0.99. Further analyses showed that both grade, X2(3) -- 10.39, p < 0.05, and condition, X2(9) = 38.30, p < 0.001 added significantly to the fit of the model, although decision order did not, X2(6)= 3.22, p > 0.10. However, adding the interactions did not improve the fit of the model. Second graders were more likely to be in step one or two of the sequence, unless they were in the highlighted dimensions condition which increased their selectivity. Fifth graders were more likely to be in step two or four. Few of the children showed an utilization deficiency (step three). These results are summarized at the bottom of Table 5.

Thus, grade a n d condition significantly influenced classification into one of the four steps of the sequence, whereas decision order did not. However, as shown by the results of the univariate analyses, decision order did, to a certain extent, promote children's use of more selective strategies, although the selective strategy was generally not from a higher step of in the sequence.

4. Discussion

In this research, an information-board procedure was used to (1) examine children's search and subsequent use of predecisional information, (2) examine how children's decision-making was affected by time and information constraints, (3) assess the generality of a four-step sequence of selective attention development and (4) assess how placement into one of its steps affected children's decision-making. Several results were apparent. First, by keeping the relevant information in view (highlighted dimensions condition), second and fifth grade children more readily searched on relevant dimensions and selected the best alternative. Because children were not told how to search in this condition, these results provide evidence that children may have more selective strategies in their repertoire than ones they routinely use. Why children may not readily use these strategies will be discussed shortly.

Apart from the results of the highlighted dimensions condition, children's search patterns revealed that most second graders (7- and 8-year-olds) searched predecisional information exhaustively and without any systematic pattern, or exhibited partial strategy use, searching information with an inter- or intradimensional method of searching but generally not on relevant dimensions. However, because children were allowed to look at the information boards prior to searching information, curiosity alone cannot explain second graders' exhaustive searches.

In addition, second graders' exhaustive searching, and the finding that they did not search any particular irrelevant dimension more so than others, reveals that they did not search information on the basis of their own beliefs instead of the story information. These findings are consistent with the results of previous research (Davidson, 1991a,b),


and suggest that the youngest children in this research were in either Step 1 or Step 2 of Miller's (1990) sequence. Interesting, while previous research has found that providing a story increased preschoolers' selective search of information in a selective recall task (Woody-Ramsey and Miller, 1988), providing a similar story context for decisions increased fifth graders' but not second graders' selective search of information. These results suggest that children younger than 9 or 10 do not show particularly planful decision-making.

Although second graders' exhaustive searches of predecisional information showed little signs of strategic planning, these exhaustive searches may in fact represent developmental improvement in searching behavior. That is, previous research has shown that children younger than five or six are often incomplete in their searching of information (e.g., Rothman and Potts, 1977; Vurpillot, 1968). For example, using a picture comparison task, Rothman and Potts (1977) found that kindergarten children were more likely to use a strategy which was incomplete and required little preliminary analysis of the problem situation, while fourth graders were more likely to use a strategy which was more accurate but exhaustive. Second graders in the present research showed similarities to both groups, as their predecisional searching revealed little evidence of preliminary planning, but after beginning, was exhaustive.

In contrast, most of the fifth graders (10- and 11-years-old) in the conditions apart from the highlighted dimensions condition showed either partial strategy use (i.e., step 2) or complete strategy use and the selection of the best alternative (step 4). In contrast to previous research in other domains (e.g., DeMarie-Dreblow and Miller, 1988; Miller and Harris, 1988), few children showed an utilization deficiency, although there was some evidence of such a deficiency with respect to decision order. That is, while successive decisions promoted the use of more selective strategies (e.g., searching more on relevant dimensions, less random searching), the likelihood that the best alternatives would be chosen did not increase. In general, however, children who used a selective strategy from the start benefitted from it (i.e., chose the best alternative).

In addition to the finding of little utilization deficiency in children's searching, the results of this research revealed that both age (development) and task demands influenced entry into a step in the 4-step sequence. That is, both second and fifth grade children in the highlighted dimension condition used strategies that were indicative of a higher step in the sequence than seen in the other conditions. This brings us back to the issue of why some of the second and most of the fifth graders in the highlighted dimension condition used a selective strategy for searching predecisional information.

It could be that children in the other story conditions did not focus their searches on the relevant dimensions because they could not remember the information. However, no evidence was found that children would initially attend to relevant dimensions but not maintain their attention to these dimensions, as if they had forgotten them. Instead, the highlighted dimensions condition increased children's initial attention to relevant dimensions, and children subsequently maintained their attention to these dimensions, although no explicit instructions were given to children to do so. From an information-processing perspective, these additional cues may have reduced the information-processing demands of the task. That is, the cues may have maximized the attentional resources available for the task. These results also indicate that the use of more advanced

D. Dat,idson / Acta Psychologica 92 (1996) 263-281 279

strategies is not due to a simple transition in which less selective strategies are replaced by more selective ones. Instead, there may be a period of variable strategy use where children use both advanced and less advanced strategies (Kuhn, 1989).

Nevertheless, without sufficient mastery of an advanced strategy children may resort to using less sophisticated strategies, particularly under time or information pressures. In the present research, time and information constraints did not increase children's selectivity in searching, although these decision pressures affected second and fifth grade children's searching and decision-making in somewhat different ways. First, while the information constraint resulted in less selective searching, and less choosing of the best alternative for both second and fifth graders, the time pressure decreased second graders' but not fifth's selectivity in searching. Instead, no precipitable drop (or increase) in older children's selectivity was seen with the time pressure. In addition, although research with adults has found an increase in the use of intradimensional searching with increases in time pressure (Johnson et al., 1993), children did not show a similar pattern. Instead, in both groups of children, the time pressure promoted faster, but generally not more selective searching. This finding is consistent with those developmental studies using arithmetic problems (Siegler, 1990); namely that a speed- emphasis instruction promotes faster problem-solving than an accurate-emphasis instruction, but not the use of different strategies.

It should also be noted that the information constraint resulted in older children's feelings of less confidence about their decisions. That is, while children's confidence ratings were similar in the other conditions, fifth graders' post-decisional confidence decreased with the information constraint - and rightly so given their performance in that condition. These results suggest that younger children were overconfident about their decision-making, whereas older children's post-decisional confidence was generally more in line with their actual performance.

Finally, the finding that children used more selective strategies with successive decisions, although generally not from a higher step in the 4-step sequence, suggests how strategy change takes place. From this research it appears that in the course of using advanced strategies even infrequently children gain practice and skill in their use. Importantly, the results of this research suggest that formal training or instructions are not always necessary in inducing strategy change, as children can became more selective on their own. Recent research with adults has found similar improvements across trials in the absence of outcome feedback (Johnson et al., 1993).

Nevertheless, even when facilitating conditions were present second graders' (7- and 8-year-olds) performance did not match that of fifth graders (10- and 1 l-year-olds). That is, younger children did not search predecisional information as selectively as older children, nor were younger children's decisions of the same quality (i.e., younger children were less likely to choose the experimentally-designated best alternative). Thus, important transitions in the use of selective search and attentional strategies appear to occur during these years of childhood, and these changes appear to impact children's decision-making. Given that previous studies have often focused on the very early development of selective attention strategies, more work is needed to examine these later transitions. As the results of this research have shown, an information-board procedure may not only provide a direct means of examining this development, but also, may

280

provide

process.

a means

D. Daeidson / Acta Psychologica 92 (1996) 263-281

for assessing how this deve lopmen t affects the dec i s ion-making

Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by a grant f rom the Nat ional Science Foundat ion

(RII-8610671) . I thank Sony Hoe for his aid in data col lect ion and Scott Tindale , Pieter

Koele , and an anonymous r ev iewer for their c o m m e n t s on earl ier drafts o f this paper. I

also thank the students and staff at the fo l lowing schools: Our Lady of Lourdes, Our

Lady of Mercy, Pope John XXIII , St. Athanasius, St. Gertrude, St. Je rome, and St. Joan

o f Arc.

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The effects of decision characteristics on children's selective search of predecisional information