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Nobes, Gavin 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1991-1130 and Panagiotaki, Georgia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2975-1196
(2007)
Adults' representations of the earth: Implications for children's acquisition of scientific concepts.
British Journal of Psychology, 98 (4).
pp. 645-665.
ISSN 0007-1269
Abstract
When children are asked to draw the Earth they often produce intriguing pictures in which, for example, people seem to be standing on a flat disc or inside a hollow sphere. These drawings, and children's answers to questions, have been interpreted as indicating that children construct naïve, theory-like mental models of the Earth (e.g. Vosniadou & Brewer, 1992). However, recent studies using different methods have found little or no evidence of these mental models, and report that many young children have some scientific knowledge of the Earth. To examine the reasons for these contrasting findings, adults (N = 350) were given the drawing task previously given to 5-year-old children. Fewer than half of the adults' pictures were scientific, and 15% were identical to children's ‘naïve’ drawings. Up to half of the answers to questions (e.g. ‘Where do people live?’) were non-scientific. Open-ended questions and follow-up interviews revealed that non-scientific responses were given because adults found the apparently simple task confusing and challenging. Since children very probably find it even more difficult, these findings indicate that children's non-scientific responses, like adults', often result from methodological problems with the task. These results therefore explain the discrepant findings of previous research, and support the studies which indicate that children do not have naïve mental models of the Earth.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Social Work and Psychology (former - to 2012) Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Social Cognition Research Group Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Developmental Science Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Cognition, Action and Perception Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Research on Children and Families Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > UEA Experimental Philosophy Group Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Mental Health |
| Depositing User: | Pure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 07 Apr 2014 14:16 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Jun 2023 10:30 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/48380 |
| DOI: | 10.1348/000712607X178119 |
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