Children Use Clues to Infer Cause and Effect

Children use clues to infer cause and effect in everyday situations. When they watch someone act on an object, they can use that information to figure out what to do next. A simple example is seeing an adult press a button on a remote control to turn on a television, then using that observation to turn on the screen later.

Children encounter many situations where they need to decode cause-and-effect from complex or ambiguous observations to come up with solutions to problems.

For example, a young child hears an adult say "I want to watch the news" and then observes the adult press a button on the remote control. A moment later, the television turns on and a ...