ERIC Number: EJ1390706
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1524-8372
EISSN: EISSN-1532-7647
Young Children's Saving and Their Episodic Future Thinking
Tsui, Angeline Sin Mei; Atance, Cristina M.
Journal of Cognition and Development, v24 n3 p438-457 2023
Children's ability to save emerges during the preschool years, but little is known about the different forms saving takes (and whether these relate) and the mechanisms driving its development. Because research with adults suggests that different aspects of future orientation increase adults' propensity to save, we explored whether, in a sample of 71 3- to 5-year-olds tested in a university laboratory in Ottawa, Canada, the ability to mentally pre-experience the future (or "episodic future thinking") predicted saving in two different contexts. In the first, using a "Saving marbles" task, we assessed children's capacity to save for a larger reward in the near future. In the second, using a newly developed "Saving candies" task, we assessed children's capacity to save a certain amount of resource for a more remote future time point, without necessarily reaping a larger future reward. Children were also given two delay of gratification tasks to determine whether these related to saving. Performance on both saving tasks was significantly related after controlling for age in months and verbal ability (r = 0.25, p = 0.041), a finding that suggests some coherence in early saving behaviors. However, we detected no significant associations between saving and delay of gratification. A series of regression analyses showed that episodic future thinking, as measured by three different tasks, did not predict saving. Our discussion focuses on why the capacity to think about the future may not predict saving in early development, and suggests viable avenues for future research in this area.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Preschool Children, Childrens Attitudes, Money Management, Thinking Skills, Cognitive Processes, Time Perspective, Delay of Gratification, Predictor Variables, Decision Making
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/u3tf9/