Can mothers’ testimony revise children’s naïve physical beliefs?: Young children’s learning in different physics concepts

• Tingyu Li ^[3] ; Yiqun Chen ^[1] ; Yilin Li ^[2] ; Xiaoju Qiu ^[4] ; Liqi Zhu ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

     University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

     China

     
  2. [2] Technical University Munich

     Technical University Munich

     Kreisfreie Stadt München, Alemania

     
  3. [3] University of Chinese Academy of Sciences & Zhejiang Normal University
  4. [4] Lake Ridge Community Support Services

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• Localización: Journal for the Study of Education and Development, Infancia y Aprendizaje, ISSN-e 1578-4126, ISSN 0210-3702, Vol. 47, Nº 3, 2024, págs. 471-489
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1177/02103702241266359
• Títulos paralelos:
  • El papel del testimonio materno en la revisión de las creencias infantiles ingenuas: aprendizaje infantil de distintos conceptos físicos
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen
  • español

    Antes de iniciar su educación formal, los niños desarrollan teorías ingenuas de forma espontánea que suelen incorporar nociones erróneas. Los testimonios de otras personas desempeñan un papel clave en la revisión de sus creencias previas falsas. El conocimiento del desarrollo infantil de las teorías ingenuas y de los factores que influyen en la revisión de estas creencias previas es de vital importancia. En el presente estudio se explora la revisión de las creencias previas en niños de tres a cinco años (N = 90) tras escuchar un testimonio científico de su madre que contradecía sus creencias previas sobre el movimiento de objetos físicos. Para ello se incluyeron tres tareas sobre el movimiento de los objetos: un movimiento gravitacional, una trayectoria horizontal de proyectil y un movimiento de caída libre. Los resultados revelan que, en función de su edad, los niños mantenían distintos niveles de creencias previas sobre los distintos conceptos físicos. El testimonio científico de las madres facilitó la revisión de las creencias previas de sus hijos y esta difería en función del concepto físico y de la edad. Estos resultados ponen de relieve la importancia del testimonio en la educación científica y subrayan la necesidad de tener en cuenta el impacto que los distintos conceptos ejercen en el aprendizaje infantil.

  • Multiple

    Young children develop naïve theories, which often contain misconceptions, spontaneously before formal education. Testimony from others plays a crucial role in revising their initial false beliefs. Understanding the development of children’s naïve theories and the factors influencing children’s naïve belief revision is of great importance. The present study examined belief revision in three-to-five-year-old children (N = 90) when exposed to scientific testimonies from their mothers that contradicted their naïve physical beliefs. Three object motion tasks, including gravitational motion, horizontal projectile motion and free-falling motion, were employed. Results showed that children of different ages held different levels of initial beliefs across different concepts. Scientific testimony from mothers facilitated children’s belief revision, and the belief revision is different across physical concepts and age. These findings emphasize the importance of testimony in science education and highlight the significance of considering the impact of different concepts on children’s science learning.

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