UC San Diego

Adults infer social information from objects' locations by integrating multiple causal factors, which is often challenging for children. To test for integrated reasoning about objects' locations, 5- to 10-year-olds (N = 72; 38 girls; 62.5% White; tested 2024) viewed scenes with toys at high/low locations, in social contexts with/without competitors for toys, and inferred owners' preferences. In Experiment 2, 4- to 7-year-olds (N = 72; 27 girls; 52.8% White, tested 2023) predicted where objects would be placed, from social context and owners' preferences. Four- to 5-year-olds failed to integrate information when reasoning about objects' pre-existing locations but succeeded when predicting placement behavior. Six- to 7-year-olds succeeded in both experiments, as did adults (N = 144, 114 women, 86% White). From 4- to 7-years of age, children increasingly reason about objects' locations as the product of interacting social causes.