Research article summary (published 14 May 2008):

Children's knowledge of the earth: a new methodological and statistical approach.

Full Abstract

In the field of children's knowledge of the earth, much debate has concerned the question of whether children's naive knowledge-that is, their knowledge before they acquire the standard scientific theory-is coherent (i.e., theory-like) or fragmented. We conducted two studies with large samples (N=328 and N=381) using a new paper-and-pencil test, denoted the EARTH (EArth Representation Test for cHildren), to discriminate between these two alternatives. We performed latent class analyses on the responses to the EARTH to test mental models associated with these alternatives. The naive mental models, as formulated by Vosniadou and Brewer, were not supported by the results. The results indicated that children's knowledge of the earth becomes more consistent as children grow older. These findings support the view that children's naive knowledge is fragmented.

Author information

Author/s: Straatemeier, Marthe (M); van der Maas, Han L J (HL); Jansen, Brenda R J (BR);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.straatemeier(-atsign-)uva.nl

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of experimental child psychology (J Exp Child Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Aug; vol 100 (issue 4) : pp 276-96

Dates: Created 2008/07/28; Completed 2008/10/14;

PMID: 18485357, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Child Child Development Child, Preschool Cognitive Science - methods; statistics & numerical data Concept Formation Earth (Planet) Female Humans Interview, Psychological Knowledge

Knowledge Male Mental Recall Models, Psychological Models, Statistical Netherlands Psychological Tests Psychometrics - methods; statistics & numerical data Recognition (Psychology) Reproducibility of Results

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