RESEARCH

Children must persist through difficulty both to achieve their own goals and to support others. However, our time, energy, and attention are limited, so persistence can be costly. When children invest effort in one task, they have fewer resources to invest in other tasks. My research demonstrates that children navigate these limits by exerting effort strategically, persisting more when the expected benefits of their effort are high or when the expected costs of their effort are low. By understanding the nature of young children's effort, my research has also identified ways in which adults can encourage children to persist. For instance, by highlighting the value of children's effort to them or by encouraging them to explore alternatives when they experience failure.

Toddlers’ helping behavior is affected by the effortful costs associated with helping others

It takes two: Process praise linking trying and success is associated with greater infant persistence

Power dynamics affect how children are expected to act, and as a result, how their effort is valued. Although social interactions are essential for learning and collaboration, children who are perceived as belonging to marginalized groups (e.g., based on gender or socioeconomic status) often face greater pressure to manage other people's emotions and maintain harmony. In turn, children lower in social power may adjust the strategies they use when exerting effort to conform to these expectations, prioritizing interpersonal goals over task success. Over time, these dynamics can give rise to inequalities in learning and participation. By examining how children navigate tensions between social expectations and their own goals, we can better understand how group-based inequalities emerge and create more equitable learning environments.

Girls persist more but divest less from ineffective teaching than boys

People do not just exert effort to complete visible tasks, but also to nurture positive environments for group collaboration. For example, during group discussions, individuals often monitor participation, manage emotions, and intervene to reduce conversational inequalities. Despite the importance of these contributions, they can be difficult to observe and value because the effort behind them is often invisible and their influence on group success is indirect. My newest line of research explores how children and adults think about "invisible effort." Do they reason about invisible effort similarly to physical effort? Can they anticipate that inequalities in invisible effort will affect whose voices get to be heard during disagreements? When do children begin displaying these behaviors in their own interactions with peers?