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The acquisition of scientific knowledge: the influence of methods of questioning and analysis on the interpretation of children's conceptions of the earth
Author(s) -
Frède Valérie,
Nobes Gavin,
Frappart Sören,
Panagiotaki Georgia,
Troadec Bertrand,
Martin Alan
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
infant and child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.87
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1522-7219
pISSN - 1522-7227
DOI - 10.1002/icd.730
Subject(s) - psychology , interview , scientific modelling , mental representation , construct (python library) , mental image , coding (social sciences) , sociology of scientific knowledge , mental model , coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) , multivariate analysis of variance , developmental psychology , social psychology , epistemology , cognitive science , cognition , social science , computer science , sociology , statistics , philosophy , mathematics , neuroscience , machine learning , anthropology , programming language
Studies of children's knowledge of the Earth have led to very different conclusions: some appear to show that children construct their own, non‐scientific ‘theories’ (mental models) of the flat, hollow or dual Earth. Others indicate that many young children have some understanding of the spherical (scientific) Earth, and that their knowledge lacks the coherence of mental models. The reasons for these contrasting views were tested by interviewing French children ( N = 178) aged 5–11 years and varying the different methods used in previous research, namely the types of questions (open and forced‐choice), the form of representation (two‐dimensional pictures and three‐dimensional models), and the method of analysis (the mental model theorists' coding scheme and a statistical test for associations using MANOVA). Forced‐choice questions resulted in higher proportions of scientific answers than open questions, and children appeared to have naïve mental models of the Earth only when the mental model theorists' coding scheme was used. These findings support the view that children tend to have ‘fragments’ of scientific knowledge, and that naïve mental models of the Earth are methodological artifacts. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.