Children’s capacity to use cultural focal points in coordination problems

Coordination problems require one to act based on expectations about how partners will act. In Experiment 1, 5-year-olds (n = 57) had to hide a sticker in the box another child from their, or a different, culture was most likely to search in. Boxes were marked with cues presumed to be known by everybody, cultural members, or the child. Experiment 2 assessed 5-year-olds’ (n = 57) behavior in a competition scenario. In Experiment 1, children were more likely to hide in the cultural box when playing with a same- than a different-culture partner. In Experiment 2, children’s behavior was the opposite. Thus by age 5, children are capable of modulating their actions in coordination problems, according to their partners’ presumed knowledge.