Cognitive Development, 12, 199-212 (1997) 01997Ablex Publishing ISSN 0885-2014 All rights of reproduction reserved. The Development of Future-Oriented Prudence and Altruism in Preschoolers Carol Thompson, John Barresi, and Chris Moore Dalhousie University This research tested the hypothesis that prudence and altruism, in situations involving future desires, follow a similar developmental course between the ages of 3 and 5 years. Using a modified delay of gratification paradigm, 3- to 5-year-olds were tested on their ability to forgo a current opportunity to obtain some stickers in order to gratify their own future desires-or the current or future desires of a research assistant. Results showed that in choices involving current desires, altruistic behavior was unrelated to age. However, prudence and altruism involving future situations were correlated with one another and with age. Children under 4 years of age demonstrated significantly less future- oriented prudence than the older children (F(1,49) = 15.75; px.001) and sig- nificantly less altruism involving future situations (F( 1,49) = 33.24; p<.OOl). The data for the 3-year-olds, but not for the older children, also showed age- partialled correlations between the two future-oriented choice situations. These results suggest that between 3 and 4 years, children acquire the ability to deal with future-oriented situations through the development of some com- mon mechanism which affects both future-oriented prudence and altruism. As children grow they eventually find themselves in situations which offer oppor- tunities for considering the future well-being of themselves and others where that may conflict with what is most desirable now. Behavior aimed at benefits for the self may be called “prudent.” Behavior which aims at benefiting others may be referred to as “altruistic.” Both prudent and altruistic behavior may be oriented toward current or future situations. This paper investigates the development of future-oriented prudent and altruistic behaviors in preschool children. We wish to acknowledge the aid of Bradley Frankland in analyzing the data, Morgan Selig in con- ducting the experiment, and three preschools (South End Day Care Centre, Dalhousie University Chil- dren’s Centre, and World of Little People Day Care) for providing participants for the study. We also thank the editor and referees of this journal for useful recommendations for revision of the initial manuscript. Preparation of the paper received partial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada by grant #410-95-l 144 to the third author. Direct all correspondence to: John Barresi at the Department of Psychology, Dalhousie Univer- sity, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 411, CANADA <jbarresi@is.dal.ca>. Manuscript received November 21,1995; revision accepted December 11,1996 199