A common understanding of human development likens young children to sponges — soaking up information, behaviors and experiences from the world around them.

Henrike Moll, director of USC Dornsife’s Minds in Development Lab (MIDLA), says that metaphor misses the mark. Children, she contends, are far from being passive receptacles — they are active participants in their own growth.

“Children know they need to learn to grow into mature beings. They know they must work to gain skills and knowledge and they know they cannot do it alone,” says Moll, professor of psychology and philosophy.

At MIDLA, Moll collaborates with colleagues in philosophy, sociology and education and leads a team of motivated student researchers to explore how young children make sense of their social worlds and how others shape their cognitive development.

While acknowledging the vital role adults play in promoting children’s development, Moll urges a move away from the idea of “one-way transmission.” Children, she says, yearn to learn, and they drive their own knowledge acquisition.

Her research backs this up. In recent studies, Moll and her team found toddlers consistently asked for help when facing problems they couldn’t solve alone. Importantly, they weren’t seeking help with simple tasks — they wanted assistance with challenges just beyond their current abilities.

“Children demand knowledge by asking tons of questions and by turning to others when they hit a wall,” Moll says.

Her research also finds children understand much more about teaching and learning than previously assumed. By age 4 she says, they not only benefit from others’ instruction, they start returning the favor, eagerly sharing what they know about dinosaurs, bugs or Lego bricks with siblings, friends, even adults.

“This shows that children are not simply impressionable or quick to endorse knowledge,” says Moll, herself a mother of two youngsters. “They actively contribute to the circulation of knowledge in their communities.”

Moll is now exploring a related question: How aware are children of their own need for social learning? One of her goals is to reframe help-seeking, which she says is too often dismissed as a sign of weakness.

“Help-seeking is a clever strategy,” she says. “It reflects the self-awareness to
recognize your limits and the determination to grow beyond them. That’s what fuels an upward spiral of learning.”

In a recent study funded by the Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood, Moll’s team gave children especially challenging tasks and tracked whether they sought help from a familiar adult. Those who didn’t were shown short videos of peers doing just that. The results were clear: After watching another child model help-seeking, the toddlers were far more likely to do the same in subsequent tests.

“By asking questions and turning to others as resources, children don’t just take ownership of their learning — they accelerate it,” says Moll.

Her ongoing research looks at how children recruit others as tutors and guides to support their personal and intellectual growth.

“We’re driven to understand how children think and act as learners and how they chart their path toward confidence and competence,” Moll says.