PSY1004 SEMESTER 2 - WEEK 2

Question 1

define counterfactual reasoning

Answer 1

ability to reason about situations and events removed from, or in contrary to current reality, including ability to think about past, future, situations with multiple possible outcomes
“if only”
“what if”

Question 2

name some benefits of counterfactual reasoning

Answer 2

allows thinking and planning ahead to decide most appropriate actions
reflect, learning from mistakes
planning for worst case scenarios
social understanding (If they said that, how would it make me feel)

Question 3

how does having counterfactual reasoning relate to cognition and time

Answer 3

ability to consider events or possibilities that are physically and temporally not present
“how will you feel tomorrow if late for lecture”- generalise outcome from other scenarios or experiences

Question 4

what does thinking of what might have been require

Answer 4

1. separate self from current reality
2. mentally construct alternative version of world where one thing changed
3. track how a single change affects rest of world whilst not changing unrelated elements

Question 5

outline how childrens fixations with present reality result in counterfactual reasoning error

Answer 5

Piaget- children often make realistic errors and egocentric errors as prioritise own POV at expense of other POV
difficulty separating self from view of world age 3, reaches adult level at 12

Question 6

counterfactual reasoning development- what is the importance of pretend play (around age 18 months)

Answer 6

pretend play needs ability to represent absent object/situation (mental representation) but isn’t same as acting in error, or counterfactual thinking (which involve considering specific way current realities could be different)
creating imaginary world can be done without references to current reality

Question 7

define pretence

Answer 7

when we act as if something is the case, whilst also correctly perceiving current reality

Question 8

outline evidence that counterfactual thinking emerges during preschool (Harris et al, 1996) - the sally story

Answer 8

Sally walks across floor with muddy shoes, now floor is dirty, would it be if she took shoes off
age 3, 75% correct
age 4, 85%

Question 9

what is contradictory research evidence that suggests preschool children cant do counterfactual reasoning (Riggs et al, 1998)

Answer 9

fireman at home, gets phone call about fire, so goes to put out. if there hadn’t been a fire, where would fireman be
cannot answer this through pretending and need to track how story change affects other events
3 years- 47% correct
children can answer Sally study by just using knowledge of world (muddy shoes makes floor dirty) without using coutnerfcautals

Question 10

outline research evidence which suggests tasks studying counterfactual reasoning only involves simple heuristic (Rafetseder et al, 2013) - cake on shelves

Answer 10

one test question able to be answered by simple reasoning, other needs counterfactual thoughts
cake on top shelf. tall boy and short girl
simple Q- if boy comes along first: can take cake (age 5-6 90%)
complex Q- if girl comes along can she reach cake: if she could would take and if not cake stayed on shelf (age 5-6 20%)
age where CFT develops depend on how we define CFT. child becomes increasingly able to think about differing aspects

Question 11

at age 3 what level of counterfactual thinking can children do

Answer 11

use real-world knowledge to answer simple counterfactual questions

Question 12

at age 6 what level of counterfactual thinking can children do

Answer 12

use basic conditional reasoning to answer counterfactual questions

Question 13

at age 12 what level of counterfactual thinking can children do

Answer 13

reason in more-adult like counterfactual way

Question 14

how does counterfactual reasoning impact formation of complex emotion

Answer 14

understanding regret and relief involves considerations of both particular situation and comparison to possible alternative
regret: if win money on scratchcard feel positive but if next persons win more, feel negative due to comparison of particular outcome to alternative outcomes
relief: if branch scratch car you’re annoyed but if other cars are fully crushed feel positive as compare particular outcomes to alternative outcome

Question 15

compare ages 5 and 7 for making comparative judgements for regret and relief by counterfactual reasoning (Amsel et al, 2003. card game)

Answer 15

children choose between cards, receive reward based on card, sometimes other card give better reward and judge how other people feel in same situation

age 5 can judge if ppts happy/sad when particular outcome but don’t understand how they feel if person could compare (cannot make comparative judgements)
age 7, can judge person feel worse if know better alternative etc

Question 16

what did Kahneman & Tversky (1982) state about adults feelings regarding negative outcomes due to choice/chance

Answer 16

feel worse if negative outcome from something they chose to do rather than chose not to, and if negative outcome arises following unusual action choice rather than habitual action

Question 17

at which age can children anticipate counterfactual emotion

Answer 17

age 12

Question 18

give research study supporting idea that children are better when responding to scenarios regarding future event (Robinson & Beck - car garage)

Answer 18

shows child road with 2 garages and toy car drive into one
1. if he drove other way where would he be
2. if next time he drive other way where will he be
age 3: 30% past q, 95% future q
age 4: 60% past q, 90% future q

Question 19

give research example which suggests children can think about single possibilities but struggle with multiple ones in the future (Beck et al - mouse games)

Answer 19

children shown slide with 2 outlets and placed cotton wool so mouse lands
1. what if next time mouse go other way
2. can you put out cotton wool so he lands safe next time
1st q requires thinking about a single possibility (mouse go either left/right)
2nd q requires thinking about 2 possibilities (mouse goes both left/right)
better performance in question 1

Question 20

why do children find CFT difficult?

Answer 20

lots of demand on cognitive system - ability to think about temporal alternative are affected by processing demand

Question 21

outline research study that suggests childrens counterfactual thoughts difficulties is due to processing demand (German & Nichols, 2003)

Answer 21

told child story using pictures, asked 1/3 question with varied length of causal chain
Mrs Rosy in garden, call husband, dog come out, squash flower
short chain q- what if dog hadn’t squished flower, would she be happy/sad
medium- if dog hadn’t escape is she happy/sad
long- if she hadn’t called husband would she be happy/sad
performance worse and chain increases

Question 22

outline correlation inbetween counterfactual thought and EF/language abilities

Answer 22

CF performance predicted by both IC and language ability suggesting difficulty with CF reasoning due to ignoring what we know to be true

Question 23

name factors affecting counterfactual reasoning

Answer 23

EF,
language,
understanding of specific grammatical constructions,
domain-specific knowledge,
conceptual changes in understanding of time

Question 24

outline how factor EF affects counterfactual thoughts

Answer 24

IC, WM and attentional flexibility: to reason with info we know false, need to resist reasoning with what we knows true (IC) so need to told both CF and real info in mind (WM) to make comparison (switch between both- attentional flexibility)

Question 25

outline factor of language in counterfactual thinking

Answer 25

necessary for CFT- a unique human ability? but rhesus monkeys understand hypothetical outcomes of unchosen behaviour

Question 26

outline factor of domain-specific knowledge on counterfactual thinking

Answer 26

ability to think of possibilities and counterfactuals differs depending on our knowledge

Question 27

outline childs understanding of time as influence of counterfactual thought

Answer 27

understanding of time age3-5 shift from event based into event independent

Question 28

SUMMARY- at age 4 what can child CFT

Answer 28

better at considering simple alternatives to factual situations

Question 29

SUMMARY- at age 3 what can child CFT

Answer 29

respond on basis of single perspective, seen when considering mental states in others and when considering alternative possibilities to current reality

Question 30

SUMMARY- at age 5 what can child CFT

Answer 30

can judge others feelings with simple emotion, but not more complex such as regret or relief