“Plan chunking” expands 3-year-olds' ability to complete multiple-step plans

The ability to use knowledge to guide the completion of goals is a critical cognitive skill, but 3-year-olds struggle to complete goals that require multiple steps. This study asked whether 3-year-olds could benefit from “plan chunking” to complete multistep goals. Thirty-two U.S. children (range = 35.75–46.59 months; 18 girls; 9 white, 3 mixed race, 20 unknown; tested between July 2020 and April 2021) were asked to complete “treasure maps,” retrieving four colored map pieces by pressing specific buttons on a “rainbow box.” Children completed more of the four-step sequence correctly when the steps were presented in a way that encouraged chunking the steps into pairs. These findings suggest a potential mechanism supporting memory-guided planning abilities in early childhood.