The development of regret

In two experiments, 4- to 9-year-olds played a game in which they<br/>selected one of two boxes to win a prize. On regret trials the unchosen<br/>box contained a better prize than the prize children actually<br/>won, and on baseline trials the other box contained a prize of the<br/>same value. Children rated their feelings about their prize before<br/>and after seeing what they could have won if they had chosen<br/>the other box and were asked to provide an explanation if their<br/>feelings had changed. Patterns of responding suggested that regret<br/>was experienced by 6 or 7 years of age; children of this age could<br/>also explain why they felt worse in regret trials by referring to<br/>the counterfactual situation in which the prize was better. No evidence<br/>of regret was found in 4- and 5-year-olds. Additional findings<br/>suggested that by 6 or 7 years, children’s emotions were<br/>determined by a consideration of two different counterfactual<br/>scenarios.