Gavin Nobes

Children's understanding of the earth in a multicultural community: Mental models or fragments of knowledge?

Children’s understanding of properties of the earth was investigated by interviewing Asian and white British classmates aged 4 - 8 years (N = 167). Two issues were explored: whether they held mental models of the earth (Vosniadou & Brewer, 1992) or instead had fragmented knowledge (di Sessa, 1988); and the influence of the children’s different cultural backgrounds. Children selected from a set of plastic models and answered forced choice questions. Using this methodology, there were no significant differences in the overall performance of Asian and white children after language skills were partialled out. Even young children showed an emerging knowledge of some properties of the earth, but the distributions of their combinations of responses provided no evidence that they had mental models. Instead, these distributions closely resembled those that would be expected if children’s knowledge in this domain were fragmented. Possible reasons for the differences between these findings and those of previous research are discussed.

Children's representations of the earth: A methodological comparison

Investigation of childrens understanding of the earth can reveal much about the origins and development of scientific knowledge. Vosniadou and Brewer (1992) claim that children construct coherent, theory-like mental models of the earth. However, more recent research has indicated that childrens knowledge of the earth is fragmented and incoherent. By testing the influence of question type (open vs. forced-choice questions) and medium (drawings vs. 3-D models) on the responses of 6-year-olds (N=59), this study investigated whether, and how, methodological differences account for the discrepant findings of previous research. Both the use of drawings and of open questions (Vosniadou and Brewers methods) were found to increase the apparent incidence of naive mental models. Moreover, the combination of 3-D models and forced-choice questions elicited more scientifically correct responses and higher proportions of scientific and inconsistent mental models than the combination of drawings and open questions. It is argued that children know more about the earth than the mental model theorists claim, and that naive mental models of the earth are largely artifactual.

Is the world round or flat? Children's understanding of the earth

Investigation of childrens understanding of the earth provides important insights into the origins of childrens knowledge, the structure of their concepts, and the development of scientific ideas. Vosniadou & Brewer (1992) proposed that, under the influence of intuitive constraints and observations, children form naïve but coherent mental models of the earth: for example they believe it to be flat, or that we live inside a hollow sphere. To test this claim, 59 children aged 6 – 8 years and 33 adults were given multiple-choice questions and a 3D model selection task. This approach avoided the criticisms of recent studies by providing participants with a full range of possible answers. Even the youngest children preferred scientific responses and so demonstrated some knowledge of the earth. Only 10% of the children showed any evidence of naïve mental models; other participants who gave non-scientific answers were inconsistent and unsystematic. It is argued that intuitive constraints have little or no influence on the development of childrens ideas in this domain, and that emerging knowledge of the earth progresses from being fragmented to consistently scientific.

Children's understanding of rules they invent themselves

Childrens understanding of rules was investigated by observing 5-, 6- and 7-year-olds engaging in unrestricted joint activity with familiar peers. Initially, all groups collectively regulated themselves by negotiating the invention and alteration of rules, hence demonstrating understanding of the consensual origins, relativity and mutability of their own rules. However, children who later returned to participate in second episodes often imposed their previously invented rules, as if they were unalterable and non-negotiable, on their new partners. This suggested a traditionalist, or conservative, orientation to rules, reminiscent of Piagets claim that children do not differentiate moral and conventional rules. An explanation of the apparent inconsistency in children sometimes sounding heteronomous and sometimes autonomous is proposed that emphasises the role of social context in the production of discourse about rules. These findings are discussed with reference to those of previous researchers, includin...

A behavioral approach to adolescent cannabis use: Accounting for nondeliberative, developmental, and temperamental factors

Abstract Most behavioral models examine adolescent health risk behaviors using a reflective, deliberate social–psychological framework. In this study, adolescent cannabis use is investigated via an expanded social–psychological model of behavioral decision-making: the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The aim was to examine the contribution of nondeliberative (impulsivity), developmental (perceived parenting styles), and temperamental (moral norms, mental health, delinquency) factors in adolescent cannabis use. A longitudinal questionnaire with baseline and follow-up measurement (14-day interval) was used. Participants were Sixth Form College students (n = 199) aged 16–18 (mean age = 16.44, SD = −0.55). At baseline (T1), demographics, TPB variables, and additional socio-psychological variables were measured. Fourteen days later (T2) self-reported cannabis use was measured. Logistic regression analyses indicated that the impulsivity subcomponent of lack of premeditation and moral norms predicted self-reported cannabis use behavior. Perceived parental rejection predicted cannabis use intentions. Adolescent cannabis use can be better understood through the expanding of behavioral models to account for nondeliberative, developmental, and temperamental factors. Drug education interventions should aim at developing self-instruction training programs teaching adolescents effortful thinking while family-based interventions should focus on encouraging open parent–adolescent communication which has shown to influence adolescents’ cannabis use.

WITHDRAWN: Physical aggression and attentional bias to angry faces: An event related potential study

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The Development of Intention-Based Morality: The Influence of Intention Salience and Recency, Negligence, and Outcome on Children's and Adults' Judgments.

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the influences on 4-8 year-olds’ and adults’ moral judgments. In both, participants were told stories from previous studies that had indicated that children’s judgments are largely outcome-based. Building on recent research in which one change to these studies’ methods resulted in substantially more intention-based judgment, in Experiment 1 (N = 75) the salience and recency of intention information were increased, and in Experiment 2 (N = 99) carefulness information (i.e., the absence of negligence) was also added. In both experiments even the youngest children’s judgments were primarily intention-based, and in Experiment 2 punishment judgments were similar to adults’ from 5–6 years. Comparisons of data across studies and experiments indicated that both changes increased the proportion of intention-based punishment judgments—but not acceptability judgments—across age-groups. These findings challenge and help to explain those of much previous research, according to which children’s judgments are primarily outcome-based. However, younger participants continued to judge according to outcome more than older participants. This might indicate that young children are more influenced by outcomes than are adults, but other possible explanations are discussed.