Acta Psychologica· 2026Q1
Innovative composite tool use by human children: adapting the golf club task from Goffin's cockatoos
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- 2026year
Short summary
Human children aged 4-8 years showed a significant increase in composite tool use, reaching nearly 90% success by age 7-8, mirroring complex problem-solving seen in Goffin's cockatoos.
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Key points
- A composite tool task, adapted from Goffin's cockatoos, was used to test human children's problem-solving abilities.
- Success in innovating composite tool use increased from 50% in 3-4 year olds to nearly 90% in 7-8 year olds (n=187 children).
- Adult participants (n=17) achieved a 94% success rate in innovating composite tool use.
- Most children who failed initially succeeded after receiving prompts or demonstrations.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
We adapted a composite tool innovation task that had been solved by Goffin's cockatoos to be suitable for human children. Participants had to use a stick to push a ball onto a collapsible platform to release a reward. We tested a total of 204 participants: 187 children aged 4 to 8-years-old and 17 adults. There was a gradual increase in the proportion of children innovating composite tool use from 50% at 3–4 years to almost 90% at 7–8 years. 94% of adults innovated composite tool use. We replicated the innovation gap reported in previous studies: most children who failed succeeded following prompts or a demonstration. The results provide opportunity to broaden our understanding of the development of human tool innovation, as well as making closer comparisons with non-human animals.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Acta Psychologica, 2026 · DOI ↗
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