sloth unleashed

…The study involved two experiments performed with 83 toddlers, focused on the operation of toys. In the first, the researchers had three toys that were identical except in terms of color. The researcher pressed a button on a green one, which triggered a short bit of music. Either the same green toy or a yellow one were then handed to the toddler, while the red one was placed a short distance away; in either case, when the child pressed the same button, nothing happened, leaving them faced with the question of whether the issue was them (operator error) or the toy.

When handed the green one, which had just played music, they tended to assume it was them. About two-thirds of these toddlers changed the operator by handing the toy to their parents. In contrast, when given the yellow one, they assumed the toy was broken; 80 percent of them reached for the red toy, presumably because they felt it would be a working replacement…