{"pk":21441,"title":"Innovating for the future: When do children begin to recognise and manufacture solutions to future problems?","subtitle":null,"abstract":"Innovation in children is typically studied by examining their capacity to create novel tools. However, innovation also involves recognising the future utility of a solution. Across two experiments, we examined children's capacity to recognise and construct a tool for future uses. Experiment One presented 3- to 5-year-olds (N=55) with a future-directed problem-solving task. When given a tool construction opportunity in anticipation of returning to the task, only 5-year-olds made the correctly shaped tool above chance levels. Experiment Two assessed 3- to 7-year-olds' (N=92) capacity to build a tool with future, as well as present, utility in mind. Age was positively associated with constructing a tool of greater utility than necessary to solve the present task. Children's propensity to construct longer tools was associated with their capacity to prepare for two alternative possibilities on a secondary task, suggesting performance on our innovation task reflects emerging future-oriented cognition.","language":"eng","license":{"name":"","short_name":"","text":null,"url":""},"keywords":[{"word":"Psychology; Cognitive development"}],"section":"Papers with Oral Presentation","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/25g7k8k8","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Zoe","middle_name":"","last_name":"Ockerby","name_suffix":"","institution":"The University of Queensland","department":""},{"first_name":"Thomas","middle_name":"","last_name":"Suddendorf","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of Queensland","department":""},{"first_name":"Jonathan","middle_name":"","last_name":"Redshaw","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of Queensland","department":""}],"date_submitted":null,"date_accepted":null,"date_published":"2024-01-01T18:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/21441/galley/11040/download/"},{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/21441/galley/21886/download/"}]}