Coparenting and sociocognitive development in preschool children

• Grant number: 20/08594-0
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2021
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Human Development Psychology
• Principal researcher: Débora de Hollanda Souza
• Grantee: Pedro Carrara de Oliveira
• Home Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50909-8 - INCT 2014: Behavior, Cognition and Teaching (INCT-ECCE): relational learning and symbolic functioning, AP.TEM

Abstract

Several studies have investigated the ability of young children to discriminate between good and bad informants in new learning situations, a phenomenon known as selective trust, or selective learning. Some researchers have been interested in investigating the factors that control the selective learning, for example, the informant's gender, familiarity with the informant, affective deprivation, history of reliability, among others. In Brazil, however, the number of studies in the field of selective trust is still limited. This study aims to contribute to this line of investigation in the country, investigating the role of parents' coparental relationship in the selective trust of Brazilian children. Thirty-six children, from 3 to 5 years old, will participate in the research. To assess selective trust, a classic paradigm involving a naming task by two potential informants with different reliability histories will be used (i.e., one informant always says the wrong name of the objects and the other always says the correct name). To assess coparenting, the Coparental Relationship Scale will be used, which will be delivered to parents at the school where children will be recruited. We expect to find a positive correlation between the level of parental coparenting abilities and children's performance in the selective trust task, as well as a main effect of age.