UC Davis

Decision-making is an integral part of life; however, little research has been done with regards to decision-making in young children. Across three studies, I investigated how response latencies and eye-movements were related to toddlers’ decision-making and to later developing metacognition. Study 1 examined whether toddlers response latency and eye-movement behaviors indicate awareness of decision difficulty or uncertainty. Results revealed that 25- to 32-month-olds had lower accuracy rates for harder decisions, responded more slowly during inaccurate trials, and switched their gaze between response options more frequently during harder decisions; suggesting that toddlers are indeed aware of decision difficulty. Study 2 examined whether responses latencies and eye-movements measured at 2 years of age were longitudinally related to emerging uncertainty monitoring at age 3. Results showed that gaze transitions in 25- to 32-month-olds, but not response latencies, were positively associated with uncertainty monitoring when they were 36- 60-months-old, suggesting that toddler’s visual exploration may help to provide a foundation for emerging uncertainty monitoring. Finally, Study 3 examined how 26- 32-month-olds use their memories in service of a goal. Results showed that when asked to report on their memories, only a subset of the toddlers showed reduced novelty preferences and high accuracy. An attentional manipulation reduced novelty preferences and increased gaze transitions and accuracy, suggesting that although attention to novelty seems to interfere with memory decisions, it can be countered with attentional manipulations.