A new study has revealed that apologies are important even to six to seven year-old children as they are undergoing dramatic and important changes in cognitive development. Lead author Marissa Drell of the University of Virginia was surprised to see that children, who experienced a minor transgression and heard an apology felt just as bad as those, who did not hear an apology. However, those who heard the transgressor say "I'm sorry" actually shared more with that person later. The apology repaired the relationship even though it did not mitigate their hurt feelings.