Research on the Shift of Preschool Children's Social Referencing and Educational Responses in the Intelligent Era

Abstract

With the rapid advancement of digitalization and intelligence, smart technologies are progressively integrating into the learning environments and daily lives of preschool children. The introduction of intelligent technologies has fundamentally transformed how young children perceive and interact with the world, bringing profound changes to traditional patterns of social referencing. Grounded in the developmental characteristics of preschool children's social cognition, this paper systematically examines the shift in social referencing during the intelligent era and explores its far-reaching educational implications. The study identifies three principal shifts in social referencing among preschool children in the age of intelligence. First, the reference object transitions from exclusively interpersonal agents to human-machine hybrids, as children increasingly turn to intelligent devices alongside human caregivers. Second, the reference content evolves from primarily emotional signals to diverse and multimodal forms of information. Third, the basis for reference shifts from relational dependency on familiar individuals to multi-source evaluation involving both human and technological inputs. In response to these shifts, the paper argues that education should continue to emphasize the core role of real others as primary reference points, expand opportunities for authentic social interaction, and foster preschoolers' initial abilities in identifying, evaluating, and negotiating among multiple reference sources. Re-examining social referencing within the context of intelligent technology can help more accurately define the boundaries of technological influence on preschool children's social cognition and provide valuable theoretical and practical guidance for supporting the healthy development of their social referencing skills in the intelligent era.