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Young Children’s Learning and Transfer of Biological Information From Picture Books to Real Animals
Author(s) -
Ganea Patricia A.,
Ma Lili,
DeLoache Judy S.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01612.x
Subject(s) - camouflage , psychology , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , ecology , biology
Preschool children ( N = 104) read a book that described and illustrated color camouflage in animals (frogs and lizards). Children were then asked to indicate and explain which of 2 novel animals would be more likely to fall prey to a predatory bird. In Experiment 1, 3‐ and 4‐year‐olds were tested with pictures depicting animals in camouflage and noncamouflage settings; in Experiment 2, 4‐year‐olds were tested with real animals. The results show that by 4 years of age, children can learn new biological facts from a picture book. Of particular importance, transfer from books to real animals was found. These findings point to the importance that early book exposure can play in framing and increasing children’s knowledge about the world.