学前儿童对疾病的认知

通过三个研究分别探查了教育条件不同的两组学前儿童能否以疾病这一生命现象为指标做出生物和非生物的本体区分;他们是否理解疾病的产生和康复不受心理意图控制;以及他们对疾病原因的认识。结果显示,3、4、5岁学前儿童在分类作业中的认知成绩随年龄逐渐提高,他们能够认识疾病不受意图控制。其对疾病原因的解释既不用意图也不用道德准则,而主要是从行为水平,表现出“朴素生物学”的认知,但其认知与成人的认知和科学的生物学概念有明显差距。教育条件影响儿童的疾病认知成绩     

学前儿童朴素生物学研究新进展:活力因果机制及其应用

学前儿童倾向于采用活力因果机制,即用生命力的交换和获取来解释与机体有关的生命现象.活力因果解释介于意图因果解释和机制因果解释之间,被认为是专属于生物领域的一种因果认知机制,它的提出为存在独立的朴素生物学理论提供了强有力的证据.4到6岁是活力机制发展的关键时期.同时,在年长儿童和成人对机体生命现象的认识中,这一机制继续发挥着作用,并不会随着儿童年龄的增长被其它因果机制完全取代.探讨可能导致活力因果机制发展差异性的影响因素以及它与其它因果机制的共同作用将是未来研究的方向.     

学前儿童朴素生物学理论及其获得机制

学前儿童朴素生物学理论发展的研究近20年来一直是儿童认知发展研究的热点。Carey等主张学前儿童的生物概念系统是从心理概念系统中分离出来的由一个系统到另一个系统的根本性概念转变,儿童还没有一个包含动植物的整合的生物系统。但另一些研究主张学前儿童能够对生物现象进行本体区分并形成内在一致的生物学因果解释,拥有朴素生物学理论,该理论是在一个概念系统（生物学概念系统）中逐渐的连续性变化过程。目前整合的观点认为儿童朴素生物学理论在童年早期就独立于心理学理论,但在分离一开始的一段时间里还要受心理学的影响。     

4~7岁儿童对生物目的指向性的认知发展模式

采用结构式访谈法,通过计算机模拟真实情景的动画方式,系统探查4~7岁儿童在目的指向性维度上的本体区分、因果认知发展模式以及在此维度上的朴素生物学“理论”的形成。结果表明：（1）4~7岁儿童在目的指向性维度上进行本体区分的认知发展模式,经历了从低到高的4个发展水平,即目的论模式——基于动物模式——基于生物模式——基于本体区分模式;（2）4~7岁儿童对目的指向性的因果认知与本体区分表现出一致性发展模式,表明学前儿童在目的指向性维度上逐渐形成了朴素生物学“理论”;（3）5~6岁是儿童对目的指向性认知的快速发展期,领域知识对儿童的认知发展具有明显的促进作用,但是受年龄和领域任务的影响     

学前儿童“朴素生物学理论”发展的实验研究──对“生长”现象的认知发展

从学前儿童对生物生长现象的认知入手探查了学前儿童朴素生物学理论的发展,探查了发展中的个别差异和个体内部差异。研究发现：（１）学前儿童在生长维度上逐渐形成了朴素生物学理论;（２）不同教育条件下的儿童对生长的认知存在差异;学前早期儿童的认知成绩更多地受实验任务变式的影响,而学前晚期儿童的个体内部差异则较小。     

4～7岁儿童对人的目的指向行为的归因研究

该研究根据人的三种基本生物需要(吃、喝、睡)设计动画故事脚本,通过计算机呈现的方式,探查4~7岁儿童对人的生物需要目的指向行为的归因。结果表明:(1)学前儿童能够对人的生物需要目的指向行为进行非意图的生物学解释,4岁至5岁是一个快速发展期;(2)学前儿童对人的生物需要行为的理解表现出不一致性,其“睡”和“吃”受社会因素影响较大,“喝水”表现为一种纯粹的生物需要(3)学前儿童对人的生物需要行为的满足与否能够采取灵活的多因果解释模式。     

4-7岁儿童关于动物繁殖的朴素生物学理论的发展

以128名4、5、6、7岁儿童为被试,采用访谈和分类任务从亲代、子代两个维度探查儿童依据繁殖对动物和非生物的本体区分及因果解释,并进一步探查对繁殖的“成熟后发生”和“代代衍生”的认知。结果显示,4-7岁儿童关于动物繁殖的朴素生物学理论的发展经历了萌芽认识、部分掌握、基本掌握和成熟稳定4个阶段,6岁儿童基本掌握了动物繁殖概念,并能对之进行一致的生物学的因果解释。对动物繁殖认知的个体内差异表现为：①对动物、非生物领域的认知因任务要求而表现不同;②任务形式对发展快速期的5、6岁儿童影响显著;③儿童理解“成熟后发生”优于理解“代代衍生”,理解“向下衍生”优于理解“上溯来源”。     

学前儿童用“人为不介入原理”区分生物、非生物能力的发展

本研究采用访谈法,考查4～6岁儿童对生物的“人为不介入原理”的理解。研究结果表明：1．学前儿童没有表现出明显的“泛灵论”倾向。2．学前儿童对“人为不介入原理”的理解随年龄增长而呈现提高趋势,多数6岁儿童已经能够利用这一原理区分生物和非生物。3．学前儿童对不同领域刺激物的认知表现出不平衡性,对动物的认知优先发展,植物次之,对人造物认知的发展落后于对生物认知的发展。4．学前儿童表现出初步的分类概念。     

4~7岁儿童依据对繁殖的朴素理解区分植物和非生物的认知发展

以152名4~7岁儿童为被试,采用访谈和判断选择任务探查他们对植物繁殖的认知。结果发现,①4~7岁儿童对植物繁殖的认知可分为不理解、部分理解和确切理解三种水平,儿童在入学后7岁能依据对植物繁殖的朴素理解区分植物与非生物;②通过降低材料难度和任务形式要求的难度,可以有效地发掘年幼儿童的认知潜能,即大部分6岁学前儿童就能够理解植物繁殖;③任务难度的改变对处于部分理解水平的5、6儿童影响更为显著：使他们在选择任务上的认知成绩优于访谈任务,对有明显果实和种子植物的认知优于无明显果实和种子植物的认知     

儿童科学概念的认知发展

综述了作者在儿童科学概念认知领域的研究,其中包括儿童的朴素生物学、朴素物理学认知及其与心理理论发展关系的研究。作者研究了儿童在生命科学领域的自发概念,包括对生长、衰老、疾病和死亡等生命现象的认知,探查儿童对日常生活中物理学概念（如力等）的朴素认知,力图发现儿童早期认知中的潜力,同时探明他们相应的错误概念,并采用教育干预实验,促进儿童科学概念的转化。还探查影响儿童科学概念发展的因素,包括外部教育条件以及个体认知能力（如心理理论发展水平,推理能力等）。研究发现,儿童在接受正规的科学教育前就对人类重要的科学领域形成了自己的“朴素理论”,他们用这种理论来解释现实世界的现象。作者主张儿童的科学教育（包括健康教育）应该以儿童的“朴素理论”为基础,从而真正做到因材施教     

学习不良儿童的策略信念与理解水平

使用结构访谈法对120名儿童(其中学习不良儿童60名)的策略信念与策略理解水平进行了研究。结果显示:学习不良儿童组与一般儿童组的差异更多体现在对具体策略的元认知因果解释水平上,他们更多持有较低水平的“信息获得”解释,而对照组儿童则更多持有较高水平的“信息加工”解释,提示对策略理解水平的差异可能是导致学习不良儿童难以将新学到的策略主动应用到其它情景中去的一个重要原因。     

Development of the concept of family in elementary school children

Two studies were conducted to examine the relation of age, gender, and family structure to children's understanding of the concept of family. In Study 1,387 children in Grades 1 through 6 were asked to classify various groupings of individuals as constituting or not constituting a family. Results showed both age and gender differences in children's conceptions of families: Younger children, especially boys, generally used concrete, absolute criteria for defining a family; younger girls were similar to older children in that they were more likely to employ abstract, relational criteria for family definition. Results also showed that children's own family structure was not related to their family definitions. In Study 2, 64 children from the original sample were given a measure of cognitive ability to examine whether differences in cognitive development or differences in socialization were a likely source of younger girls' more advanced understanding. Gender differences in cognitive ability did not emerge, suggesting that the gender effects in Study 1 reflected differences in the socialization of boys and girls. Implications of the findings for understanding children's reactions to family disruption are discussed.     

Children use whole-part juxtaposition as a pragmatic cue to word meaning

When parents label novel parts of familiar objects, they typically provide familiar whole-object terms before offering novel part terms (e.g., "See this cup? This is the rim."). Such whole-part juxtaposition might help children to accurately interpret the meaning of novel part terms, but it can do so only if they recognize the conjunction as a potential cue to part meaning. Two studies examined (a) whether 3- to 4-year-olds use whole-part juxtaposition to accurately interpret novel part terms and (b) how they might do so. Study 1 confirmed that children indeed use juxtaposition to guide learning of novel part terms. Furthermore, 2 control conditions clarified that children's use of juxtaposition was not simply due to memory effects, such as the facilitation of lexical access, nor to recognition of the grammatical frame that typically accompanies juxtaposition. Study 2 revealed that children readily use juxtaposition in a novel, gestural format. Such flexibility in recognizing and utilizing novel variants of juxtaposition strongly suggests that pragmatic understanding lies at the heart of children's sensitivity to whole-part juxtaposition.     

Why are rocks pointy? Children's preference for teleological explanations of the natural world

Teleological explanations are based on the assumption that an object or behavior exists for a purpose. Two studies explored the tendency of adults and first-, second-, and fourth-grade elementary-school children to explain the properties of living and nonliving natural kinds in teleological terms. Consistent with the hypothesis that young children possess a promiscuous teleological tendency, Study 1 found that children were more likely than adults to broadly explain the properties of both living and nonliving natural kinds in teleological terms, although the kinds of functions that they endorsed varied with age. Study 2 was an attempt to reduce children's broad teleological bias by introducing a pretrial that described, in nonteleological terms, the physical process by which nonliving natural kinds form. In spite of this attempt, Study 2 replicated the effects of Study 1, with only fourth graders showing any shift in preference for teleological explanation.     

Narrative discourse and theory of mind development

The authors examined experimentally whether exposure to social discourse about concepts related to mental states could promote changes in children's theory of mind understanding. In 2 studies, 3- to 4-year-old children were assigned to either a training or a no training control condition. All children were administered several theory of mind measures at pretest and 2 posttests. Training was not effective in improving performance in Study 1 (n = 37); but in Study 2 (n = 54), modifications of the training procedure led to significant improvements on measures of false belief and deception from pretest to 1st posttest. The findings support the influence of social discourse on children's theory of mind development.     

Children's conceptions of characteristic features of category members

The authors investigated children's conceptions of the characteristic features of category members and found that their conceptions underwent qualitative developmental changes. They hypothesized that (a) children initially tend to perceive category members in terms of individual characteristics (i.e., internal dispositions and behavioral patterns) and (b) only later do they conceive of category members in terms of their shared beliefs and values. They explored these hypotheses in 2 studies: In Study 1, they investigated how Protestant and Catholic children in Northern Ireland understood the religious intergroup context in their own country; in Study 2, children in Italy were presented with a fictional scenario of intergroup conflict and asked to explain the causes of the conflict. The results of both studies confirmed the 2 hypotheses.     

Evidence for an explanation advantage in naïve biological reasoning

The present studies compare young children's explanations and predictions for the biological phenomenon of contamination. In Study 1, 36 preschoolers and 24 adults heard vignettes concerning contamination, and were asked either to make a prediction or to provide an explanation. Even 3-year-olds readily supplied contamination-based explanations, and most children mentioned an unseen mechanism (germs, contact through bodily fluids). Moreover, unlike adults who performed at ceiling across both explanation and prediction tasks, children were significantly more accurate with their explanations than their predictions. In Study 2, we varied the strength of cues regarding the desirability of the contaminated substance (N=24 preschoolers). Although desirability affected responses, for both levels of desirability participants were significantly more accurate on explanation than prediction questions. Altogether, these studies demonstrate a significant "explanation advantage" for children's reasoning in the domain of everyday biology.     

The influence of language and socioeconomic status on children's understanding of false belief

Study 1 investigated whether differences in the lexical explicitness with which languages express false belief influence children's performance on standard false belief tasks. Preschoolers speaking languages with explicit terms (Turkish and Puerto Rican Spanish) were compared with preschoolers speaking languages without explicit terms (Brazilian Portuguese and English) on questions assessing false belief understanding either specifically (the think question) or more generally (the look for question). Lexical explicitness influenced responses to the think question only. Study 2 replicated Study 1 with groups of both speakers differing in socioeconomic status (SES). A local effect of explicitness was found again as well as a more general influence of SES. The findings are discussed with regard to possible relations among language, SES, and understanding of mind.     

Symbolic representation across domains in preschool children

The study examines children's understanding of notational representation. Children 3 to 5 years old were shown a card containing a notation and told what it said. The children were asked to say what was printed on the card 3 times: when it was under a display named by the notation, when it was under a different display, and finally when it had been returned to the original position. In Study 1, the card contained a word or a picture indicating object identity or a numeral or an analogue indicating quantity. All the children could solve the problems containing pictures, numerals, or analogues, but the word condition was difficult and children believed that the word changed when the card moved to the new display. In Study 2, the comparison between object names and quantities was made more equitable by introducing easy and difficult versions of each condition. This time, there was little difference between cards indicating names and those indicating quantities but large differences in children's ability to solve the problem as a function of their familiarity with the notation that was written. The results point to weaknesses in children's understanding of how representations refer to meanings.