Proactive An agent achieves goals, implicit or explicit. Its behaviour is teleological, planned and future-oriented. Reactive An agent perceives and reacts to environmental change. Its behaviour is causal and past-determined. Model-based It uses models of the world to guide its perception and behaviour. Learning-oriented It acquires new behaviours and new models. Rational It reasons, solves pro...

Young children in Western cultures tend to endorse teleological (function-based) explanations broadly across many domains, even when scientifically unwarranted. For instance, in contrast to Western adults, they explicitly endorse the idea that mountains were created for climbing, just like hats were created for warmth. Is this bias a product of culture or a product of universal aspects of human...

Unlike educated adults, young children demonstrate a ‘‘promiscuous’’ tendency to explain objects and phenomena by reference to functions, endorsing what are called teleological explanations. This tendency becomes more selective as children acquire increasingly coherent beliefs about causal mechanisms, but it is unknown whether a widespread preference for teleology is ever truly outgrown. The st...