Unlike in science and math content areas, little is known about how kids think about economics. Socio-constructivist learning theory contends this is problematic for kids’ learning. Specifically, new learning should build up on previous understandings and knowledge. If educators are unaware of kids’ previous understandings and knowledge, they cannot build on this knowledge. This study, the second phase of a multi-phase project, begins to fill that gap by employing a mixed methods approach to investigate how kids think about allocating resources. Based on my findings in the first phase, an ethnographic observation of second- and fourth-grade kids, I designed a multi-recipient dictator game where recipients were selected based on their role in the dictator’s social network. First, I used social network analysis to determine best friends, acquaintances, popular kids, and isolated kids in the dictator’s social network at school. Second, I used those recipients in one round of a multi-recipient dictator game and anonymous recipients in a second round. I found the relationship of the recipient with the dictator was significantly associated with the amount of resource they received, and that when recipients were anonymous, dictators were more likely to distribute resources equally. These findings contribute to our understanding of kids’ naïve theories about economics with implications for elementary economics benchmarks and curriculum.

与科学和数学内容领域不同，对于孩子们对经济学的看法知之甚少。社会建构主义的学习理论认为这对孩子的学习是有问题的。具体来说，新的学习应该建立在先前的理解和知识的基础上。如果教育者没有意识到孩子以前的理解和知识，他们将无法以此为基础。这项研究是一个多阶段项目的第二阶段，它开始采用混合方法研究孩子如何考虑分配资源来填补这一空白。根据我在第一阶段的研究结果，即对二，四年级孩子的人种学观察，我设计了一个多收件人独裁者游戏，其中根据接收者在独裁者社交网络中的角色来选择接收者。首先，我使用社交网络分析来确定最好的朋友，独裁者在学校社交网络中的熟人，受欢迎的孩子和孤立的孩子。其次，我在多收件人独裁者游戏的一轮中使用了那些收件人，而在第二轮中使用了匿名收件人。我发现接收者与独裁者的关系与他们收到的资源量显着相关，并且当接收者是匿名者时，独裁者更有可能平均分配资源。这些发现有助于我们理解孩子们关于经济学的朴素理论，从而对基本经济学的基准和课程产生影响。我发现接收者与独裁者的关系与他们收到的资源量显着相关，并且当接收者是匿名者时，独裁者更有可能平均分配资源。这些发现有助于我们理解孩子们关于经济学的朴素理论，从而对基本经济学的基准和课程产生影响。我发现接收者与独裁者的关系与他们收到的资源量显着相关，并且当接收者是匿名者时，独裁者更有可能平均分配资源。这些发现有助于我们理解孩子们关于经济学的朴素理论，从而对基本经济学的基准和课程产生影响。