Abstract
Children's thinking about prenatal development requires reasoning about change that cannot be observed directly. How do children gain knowledge about this topic? Do children have mental models or is their knowledge fragmented? In Experiment 1, results of a forced-choice questionnaire about prenatal development (6- to 13-year-olds; N = 317) indicated that children do have a variety of coherent, grade-related, theories about early shape of the fetus, but not about bodily functions. Coherence of the mental models was enhanced by a preceding generative task. Children's mental models were in agreement with reasoning about natural transformations (Rosengren et al., 1991) and constraints in representational flexibility (Karmiloff-Smith, 1992). In Experiment 2, an open-question interview was administered (6- to 12-year-old children; N = 38). The interview resulted in grade-unrelated, incoherent responses. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of naïve biology and to the effects of different methodologies being used in the area of mental models.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1835 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-13 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | October |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2018 |
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Keywords
- Fragmented knowledge
- Latent variable models
- Mental models
- Naïve biology
- Prenatal development
- Representational-redescription
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Children's mental models of prenatal development. / van Schijndel, Tessa J.P.; van Es, Sara E.; Franse, Rooske K.; van Bers, Bianca M.C.W.; Raijmakers, Maartje E.J.
In: Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 9, No. October, 1835, 01.10.2018, p. 1-13.Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Children's mental models of prenatal development
AU - van Schijndel, Tessa J.P.
AU - van Es, Sara E.
AU - Franse, Rooske K.
AU - van Bers, Bianca M.C.W.
AU - Raijmakers, Maartje E.J.
PY - 2018/10/1
Y1 - 2018/10/1
N2 - Children's thinking about prenatal development requires reasoning about change that cannot be observed directly. How do children gain knowledge about this topic? Do children have mental models or is their knowledge fragmented? In Experiment 1, results of a forced-choice questionnaire about prenatal development (6- to 13-year-olds; N = 317) indicated that children do have a variety of coherent, grade-related, theories about early shape of the fetus, but not about bodily functions. Coherence of the mental models was enhanced by a preceding generative task. Children's mental models were in agreement with reasoning about natural transformations (Rosengren et al., 1991) and constraints in representational flexibility (Karmiloff-Smith, 1992). In Experiment 2, an open-question interview was administered (6- to 12-year-old children; N = 38). The interview resulted in grade-unrelated, incoherent responses. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of naïve biology and to the effects of different methodologies being used in the area of mental models.
AB - Children's thinking about prenatal development requires reasoning about change that cannot be observed directly. How do children gain knowledge about this topic? Do children have mental models or is their knowledge fragmented? In Experiment 1, results of a forced-choice questionnaire about prenatal development (6- to 13-year-olds; N = 317) indicated that children do have a variety of coherent, grade-related, theories about early shape of the fetus, but not about bodily functions. Coherence of the mental models was enhanced by a preceding generative task. Children's mental models were in agreement with reasoning about natural transformations (Rosengren et al., 1991) and constraints in representational flexibility (Karmiloff-Smith, 1992). In Experiment 2, an open-question interview was administered (6- to 12-year-old children; N = 38). The interview resulted in grade-unrelated, incoherent responses. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of naïve biology and to the effects of different methodologies being used in the area of mental models.
KW - Fragmented knowledge
KW - Latent variable models
KW - Mental models
KW - Naïve biology
KW - Prenatal development
KW - Representational-redescription
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054245898&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85054245898&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01835
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01835
M3 - Article
VL - 9
SP - 1
EP - 13
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
SN - 1664-1078
IS - October
M1 - 1835
ER -