Give some, keep some, put some: The language of sharing in children

Sensitivity to linguistic cues, in theory, can change the interpretation of social and game theoretical behaviour. We tested this in a pair of experiments with children from 4 to 5 years of age. Children were asked to give some, keep some or put some stickers for themselves or for another player (a puppet) after collaborative activities. We found that the direction of the verb did influence how selfish the younger children were. We also had children tidy-up the toys after each activity to determine their interpretation of some. Children could derive the pragmatic scalar implicature linked to some (i.e., interpreting it as meaning not all) and they did so particularly when it affected them personally. These findings have important implications for the stability of otherregarding preferences and the importance of instructions in games.