Probability Learning: Changes in Behavior Across Time and Development

Individuals track probabilities, such as associations between events in their environments, but less is known about the degree to which experiencewithin a learning session and over developmentinfluences people's use of incoming probabilistic information to guide behavior in real time. In two experiments, children (4-11years) and adults searched for rewards hidden in locations with predetermined probabilities. In Experiment 1, children (n=42) and adults (n=32) changed strategies to maximize reward receipt over time. However, adults demonstrated greater strategy change efficiency. Making the predetermined probabilities more difficult to learn (Experiment 2) delayed effective strategy change for children (n=39) and adults (n=33). Taken together, these data characterize how children and adults alike react flexibly and change behavior according to incoming information.