Observational reinforcement learning in children and young adults.

Observational learning is essential for the acquisition of new behavior in educational practices and daily life and serves as an important mechanism for human cognitive and social-emotional development. However, we know little about its underlying neurocomputational mechanisms from a developmental perspective. In this study we used model-based fMRI to investigate differences in observational learning and individual learning between children and younger adults.

The computational basis of following advice in adolescents.

Advice taking helps one to quickly acquire knowledge and make decisions. This age-comparative study (in children [8- to 10-year-olds], adolescents [13- to 15-year-olds], and adults [18- to 22-year-olds]) investigated developmental differences in how advice, experience, and exploration influence learning. The results showed that adolescents were initially easily swayed to follow peer advice but also switched more rapidly to exploring alternatives like children.

Developmental differences in the neural dynamics of observational learning.

Learning from vicarious experience is central for educational practice, but not well understood with respect to its ontogenetic development and underlying neural dynamics. In this age-comparative study we compared behavioral and electrophysiological markers of learning from vicarious and one's own experience in children (age 8-10) and young adults. Behaviorally both groups benefitted from integrating vicarious experience into their own choices however, adults learned much faster from social information than children.

Performance Feedback Processing Is Positively Biased As Predicted by Attribution Theory.

A considerable literature on attribution theory has shown that healthy individuals exhibit a positivity bias when inferring the causes of evaluative feedback on their performance. They tend to attribute positive feedback internally (e.g.

Electrophysiological correlates of observational learning in children.

Observational learning is an important mechanism for cognitive and social development. However, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying observational learning in children are not well understood. In this study, we used a probabilistic reward-based observational learning paradigm to compare behavioral and electrophysiological markers of individual and observational reinforcement learning in 8- to 10-year-old children.