Preverbal infants expect agents exhibiting counterintuitive capacities to gain access to contested resources

Abstract Claims to supernatural power have been used as a basis for authority in a wide range of societies, but little is known about developmental origins of the link between supernatural power and worldly authority. Here, we show that 12- to 16-month-old infants expect agents exhibiting counterint...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Xianwei Meng, Yo Nakawake, Kazuhide Hashiya, Emily Burdett, Jonathan Jong, Harvey Whitehouse
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/59ab9bfa0cb6414e8ab9f4435eb83291
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:59ab9bfa0cb6414e8ab9f4435eb83291
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:59ab9bfa0cb6414e8ab9f4435eb832912021-12-02T16:53:10ZPreverbal infants expect agents exhibiting counterintuitive capacities to gain access to contested resources10.1038/s41598-021-89821-02045-2322https://doaj.org/article/59ab9bfa0cb6414e8ab9f4435eb832912021-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89821-0https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Claims to supernatural power have been used as a basis for authority in a wide range of societies, but little is known about developmental origins of the link between supernatural power and worldly authority. Here, we show that 12- to 16-month-old infants expect agents exhibiting counterintuitive capacities to win out in a two-way standoff over a contested resource. Infants watched two agents gain a reward using either physically intuitive or physically counterintuitive methods, the latter involving simple forms of levitation or teleportation. Infants looked longer, indicating surprise, when the physically intuitive agent subsequently outcompeted a physically counterintuitive agent in securing a reward. Control experiments indicated that infants’ expectations were not simply motived by the efficiency of agents in pursuing their goals, but specifically the deployment of counterintuitive capacities. This suggests that the link between supernatural power and worldly authority has early origins in development.Xianwei MengYo NakawakeKazuhide HashiyaEmily BurdettJonathan JongHarvey WhitehouseNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Xianwei Meng Yo Nakawake Kazuhide Hashiya Emily Burdett Jonathan Jong Harvey Whitehouse Preverbal infants expect agents exhibiting counterintuitive capacities to gain access to contested resources
description	Abstract Claims to supernatural power have been used as a basis for authority in a wide range of societies, but little is known about developmental origins of the link between supernatural power and worldly authority. Here, we show that 12- to 16-month-old infants expect agents exhibiting counterintuitive capacities to win out in a two-way standoff over a contested resource. Infants watched two agents gain a reward using either physically intuitive or physically counterintuitive methods, the latter involving simple forms of levitation or teleportation. Infants looked longer, indicating surprise, when the physically intuitive agent subsequently outcompeted a physically counterintuitive agent in securing a reward. Control experiments indicated that infants’ expectations were not simply motived by the efficiency of agents in pursuing their goals, but specifically the deployment of counterintuitive capacities. This suggests that the link between supernatural power and worldly authority has early origins in development.
format	article
author	Xianwei Meng Yo Nakawake Kazuhide Hashiya Emily Burdett Jonathan Jong Harvey Whitehouse
author_facet	Xianwei Meng Yo Nakawake Kazuhide Hashiya Emily Burdett Jonathan Jong Harvey Whitehouse
author_sort	Xianwei Meng
title	Preverbal infants expect agents exhibiting counterintuitive capacities to gain access to contested resources
title_short	Preverbal infants expect agents exhibiting counterintuitive capacities to gain access to contested resources
title_full	Preverbal infants expect agents exhibiting counterintuitive capacities to gain access to contested resources
title_fullStr	Preverbal infants expect agents exhibiting counterintuitive capacities to gain access to contested resources
title_full_unstemmed	Preverbal infants expect agents exhibiting counterintuitive capacities to gain access to contested resources
title_sort	preverbal infants expect agents exhibiting counterintuitive capacities to gain access to contested resources
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/59ab9bfa0cb6414e8ab9f4435eb83291
work_keys_str_mv	AT xianweimeng preverbalinfantsexpectagentsexhibitingcounterintuitivecapacitiestogainaccesstocontestedresources AT yonakawake preverbalinfantsexpectagentsexhibitingcounterintuitivecapacitiestogainaccesstocontestedresources AT kazuhidehashiya preverbalinfantsexpectagentsexhibitingcounterintuitivecapacitiestogainaccesstocontestedresources AT emilyburdett preverbalinfantsexpectagentsexhibitingcounterintuitivecapacitiestogainaccesstocontestedresources AT jonathanjong preverbalinfantsexpectagentsexhibitingcounterintuitivecapacitiestogainaccesstocontestedresources AT harveywhitehouse preverbalinfantsexpectagentsexhibitingcounterintuitivecapacitiestogainaccesstocontestedresources
_version_	1718382859343888384

Preverbal infants expect agents exhibiting counterintuitive capacities to gain access to contested resources

Ejemplares similares