According to a recent study, children explore more than adults and it helps then learn better than grown-ups. The study notes when adults attempt something new but get a negative result, they often won't try it again.
Dr. Alison Gopnik, one of the co-authors, said "That might seem like the most base kind of intelligence-even rats stay away from a path leading to a shock. The downside is that we will never learn the world is more complicated. Children, however, have intense curiosity and drive to explore and this helps them learn many different things and quickly. "
Together with NYU scientist Emily Liquin, Gopnik conducted a scientific experiment to test if young children's drive to explore more than grown-ups influences the way they learn.
They gave 64 young children and 87 adults a game where each placed different blocks on a machine with one rule: If the machine lights up, they get a prize consisting of a star, but if the machine doesn't light up, they lose twice as much. The goal of the game was to discover that all the blocks work except for the ones with white spots.
Most of the children were able to figure out the rule correctly, whereas more than 70% adults couldn't, but it came at a cost: The children earned fewer stars.
The experiment shows adults often leap to faster conclusions, while children are more willing to explore and gather more information before they decide on a result.
The experiment only studied four to seven-year-olds compared to adults in the United States, noting more research is needed to generalize it to a broader population and context, according to the paper.
Gopnik concludes, "We grown-ups are often so anxious to exploit that we don't explore, so afraid of losing stars that we miss the chance to learn something new.
Children, however, are natural explorers, willing to sacrifice stars for the sake of information. We need both types of thinking to grow up, but adults might learn something from those curious kids. "
