Mercer Times

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explores how young children perceive possibilities. The research, led by Aimee Stahl, an associate professor of psychology, indicates that children as young as two can differentiate between impossible events and those that are possible but unlikely. Furthermore, they tend to learn more effectively from events deemed impossible.

The experiment involved 335 toddlers aged two and three years old interacting with toy-filled gumball machines. Stahl and her colleague Lisa Feigenson from Johns Hopkins University used three machines: one with equal pink and purple toys, another mostly purple with one pink toy, and a third containing only purple toys. Regardless of the machine used, a pink toy was always dispensed.

After dispensing the toy, researchers introduced a new word for it—“blick”—and tested the children's ability to remember this term by asking them to identify it among other toys later on. When the blick emerged from a machine containing at least one pink toy, children often forgot its name. However, when it appeared from a machine with only purple toys, they were more likely to remember its name.

“When the pink toy appears out of nowhere as if by magic, kids are driven to explain that event,” said Stahl. “They’re curious about it. Our results show that young children are keen to seek information about these events that violate their expectations, which impels them to learn more effectively.”

Stahl emphasizes that even without language skills to express such concepts fully, children's ability to reason about possibilities is remarkable.

Stahl began this research during her graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University and continues it at TCNJ’s Cognitive Development Lab or "Baby Lab."

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is recognized for publishing high-impact research across various scientific fields globally.