Young children strategically adapt to unreliable social partners

The effectiveness of social learning depends on whether learners receive help when they need it. In four preregistered studies, U.S. 4–6-year-olds (N = 244; 54% female, 27% White, 2% Black, 48% Asian, 9% Hispanic/Latino, 24% Multiracial/Other) interacted with an adult who either did or did not follow through on promised help. Experiment 1 tested the effect of reliable versus unreliable help on children’s future task choice; Experiment 2 examined its effect on children’s help-seeking and exploration of a novel toy. Children’s learning goals and strategies were modulated by the past reliability of help, suggesting that seemingly maladaptive decisions—such as avoiding a hard task—may be adaptive responses that balance the reliability of help against the utility of exploring alone.