Children's conceptions of the body interior

Abstract

Young children? conceptions of internal body organs and their functions are often both surprisingly accurate and surprisingly limited. This chapter demonstrates children's developmental progress toward more sophisticaiied conceptions.

Illness through the eyes of the child: the development of children's understanding of the causes of illness

“…Young children have the opinion that the brain only has a function for thinking. They do not think about the brain also being involved in motoric actions and believe that arms and legs can take care of their own movement [11,44,45]. Even in children who manage abstract thinking processes (from 11 years onwards) the model suggests that an explanation of metabolic processes on micro level needs to be discouraged.…”

“…However, most literature describes the emotional reactions of children to hospital admission, focusing on the possibilities to support the child or to prevent emotional problems from emerging [1][2][3][4][5]. Only a few investigators have attempted to get a better insight into the child's cognitive perspective of illness [3,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. What information does a child need to understand its' illness?…”

Development of Children's Body Knowledge, Using Knowledge of the Lungs as an Exemplar

“…As they develop sensations, feelings, and thoughts, children begin to distinguish between what is "inside" and what is "outside" (p. 347). Crider (1981) proposed a similar model of body knowledge development in which children progress from primitive, global interpretations to more detailed, abstract understanding. Carey (1985) examined conceptual changes in children's thinking about the human body and suggested that adults should avoid labeling children as being in one of Piaget's (1952) stages (preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational).…”

“…Not surprising, then, numerous studies have found that children's body knowledge increases with age (Alvin, 1986;Amann-Gainotti & Antenorre, 1990;Brumback, 1977;Crider, 1981;Gellert, 1962;Glaun & Rosenthal, 1987;Jones, Badger, & Moore, 1992;Porter, 1974;Schilder & Weschler, 1935;Smith, 1973;Tait & Ascher, 1955;Wynn, 1989). In general, the studies listed in Table 1 found a consistent increase in body knowledge increasing with age.…”

Comparison of Three Teaching Methods on 4- Through 7-Year-Old Children's Understanding of the Lungs in Relation to a Peak Flow Meter in the Management of Asthma: A Pilot Study

“…[4] Previous studies related to body knowledge indicated a linear effect of age, with older children demonstrating more complete, more accurate knowledge than younger children. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Effects of gender have varied, [4][5][6]19,23,25] and some studies have indicated a positive correlation between body knowledge and higher parental education. [5,19,22,23] Several studies have also indicated either a lack of or very inaccurate knowledge about the anatomy and function of the lungs among children.…”