Early development is characterized by elevated exploration-children prefer novel options over known, rewarding ones. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain this tendency: One posits that children are intrinsically motivated to seek information and use novelty as a proxy for information gain, while the other suggests that perceptual novelty alone, independent of information, drives exploration. To examine the two hypotheses, we designed a four-armed bandit task with four choice options, one of which was more informative than the rest. Participants were 60 4-year-olds (29 girls, 31 boys), 68 5- to 6-year-olds (33 girls, 35 boys), and 73 adults (52 females, 20 males, and 1 reported "neither"). The results showed that across all age groups, the most informative option was rarely chosen. Adults clearly favored the most rewarding option, while 4-year-olds' decisions were influenced by both reward and perceptual novelty, with 5- to 6-year-olds falling in between (i.e., chose the most rewarding option more, and the novel option less than 4-year-olds, but chose the most rewarding option less, and the novel option more than adults). The findings provide strong evidence that young children's exploration is driven by perceptual novelty rather than a quest for information. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Far transfer-the application of learning across distant domains-remains elusive in intervention research, and even when it is found, its mechanisms remain unclear or unexplored. This study analyzes data from the model of reading engagement, a sustained content literacy intervention implemented in Grades 1-3 that demonstrated positive treatment effects on both near-transfer reading and far-transfer math outcomes in a prior study. Here, we extend the original analysis to examine the potential mechanisms of the far transfer effects previously observed on math. Latent mediation analysis shows that approximately 50% of the treatment effect on Grade 4 math is explained by Grade 3 reading, leaving the remainder attributable to other factors. The indirect effects on math are driven by broad standardized reading measures rather than narrower content-specific reading comprehension or background knowledge, suggesting that interventions targeting broad, cross-disciplinary skills may be most effective for supporting far transfer. Results are robust to high levels of unobserved confounding, alternative mediators representing reading engagement and social-emotional learning, and alternative model specifications. We conclude with a discussion of how the appropriate methodological choices for assessing transfer depend on intervention characteristics and substantive research questions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Decades of research, particularly in Western countries, have demonstrated how general parenting practices, such as autonomy support and control, may shape adolescent development. However, equally important is examining culturally specific parenting practices in non-Western contexts. Parental socialization of adolescents' future orientation (i.e., anticipating and planning for long-term goals) represents a culturally embedded practice through which parents convey socially valued life-span expectations. In societies such as China, where long-term planning and perseverance are strongly emphasized, parents' future-oriented practices may play an important role in adolescents' social adjustment. Using a three-wave longitudinal design, this study investigated whether the initial level and changes of Chinese adolescents' perceived parents' future-oriented practices over time predicted their social adjustment, with attention to similarities and differences in urban and rural families. The sample included 722 Chinese adolescents (55% girls; Mage = 12.87 years; 49% rural residents). Data were obtained from adolescents' self-reports and teacher rating. Results showed that urban adolescents reported a greater initial level of parents' future-oriented practices compared to their rural counterparts. In both regions, higher baseline adolescent-perceived parents' future-oriented practices predicted greater adolescents' prosocial leadership and resistance to peer influence over time, even after accounting for parents' autonomy support and psychological control. Moreover, greater increases in adolescent-perceived parents' future-oriented practices predicted greater prosocial leadership over time among urban but not rural adolescents. The findings highlight the unique role of culturally salient parenting practices in shaping adolescents' social adjustment beyond general parenting dimensions, and underscore the importance of considering urban-rural differences when developing the related interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
