Persistence of the Intuitive Conception That Heavier Objects Sink More: A Reaction Time Study With Different Levels of Interference

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Recent research efforts have argued for the persistence of some of students' frequent scientific misconceptions, even after correct answers are produced. Some of these studies, based on the analysis of reaction times, have recorded latencies for counterintuitive or incongruent stimuli compared to intuitive or congruent ones. The proposed interpretations were that prior knowledge survives learning and still coexists with new closer-to-scientific knowledge, producing conflicts that delay correct answers. But these conclusions are based on the assumption that stimuli from different conditions only differ in the presence/absence of interfering misconceptions, which is sometimes, in our opinion, a rather fragile claim. Thus, we have designed a task in which it is possible to test different levels of interference and not only its effects in contrast to another condition. Then, we have used it to see if different intensities of interference produce different levels of conflict. The task tested the persistence of the misconception that "heavy objects sink more than lighter ones". One hundred twenty-eight 14-to 15-year-olds were asked to tell which of the 2 balls presented (3 different materials and 3 different sizes) would "sink more" than the other. Analysis verified the presence of latencies and negative priming. For the most part, results show that the intensity of interference does produce corresponding latencies, which suggests greater conflict and therefore supports the hypothesis of persistence and coexistence of conceptions, even after correct answers are produced, and beyond other plausible effects due to the used stimuli. Prescriptions for theory and teaching are proposed.

Neuromyths and Their Origin Among Teachers in Quebec

“…This suggests that perceptions based on teaching experience are a strong cognitive bias that may influence the belief in some neuromyths. These results thus support the idea that our perceptions can easily be biased by various factors, and that our intuitions can be misleading, such as reported by research on conceptual change in science, with students' unscientific conceptions being regularly influenced by their perceptions and intuitions (Masson, ; Potvin, Masson, Lafortune, & Cyr, ). Moreover, university training is the second most‐cited source for each of the five neuromyths studied.…”

“…In terms of teacher training, it may be relevant to foster critical thinking among students (Pasquinelli, ), notably by teaching the different levels of evidence. Drawing from research on conceptual change in science (e.g., Potvin et al, ) to increase critical thinking about sources of information and cognitive biases may be an interesting avenue for changing teachers' conceptions. In addition, while it may be difficult to verify the precise content of the courses in initial teacher training, it may be judicious to ensure that course descriptors and textbooks provide content in accordance with current knowledge.…”

Event‐Related Potential Evidence for Persistence of an Intuitive Misconception About Electricity

“…However, our result is different from other studies examining the misconceptions in floating and sinking. In these studies, inhibition of a misconception is usually associated with longer reaction time (Babai & Amsterdamer, ; Potvin et al, ). We speculate that the participants' difference in scientific competency and their distinct development of inhibition ability might be responsible for the different behavioral results.…”

“…However, the above viewpoint is challenged by recent findings from behavior measurements and brain imaging studies (Babai & Amsterdamer, ; Babai, Eidelman, & Stavy, ; Foisy, Potvin, Riopel, & Masson, ; Houde, ; Masson, Potvin, Riopel, & Foisy, ; Potvin, Masson, Lafortune, & Cyr, ; Potvin, Turmel, & Masson, ; Shtulman & Valcarel, ). By analyzing the reaction time, it was found that the students needed more time to correctly answer questions with conflicting misconceptions relative to questions without the conflicts.…”

Children’s Ability to Learn Evolutionary Explanations for Biological Adaptation

“…Under time pressure or cognitive load, they reveal nonscientific, childlike conceptions of several domains, including life (Goldberg & Thompson-Schill, 2009), matter (Potvin, Masson, Lafortune, & Cyr, 2015), motion (Foisy, Potvin, Riopel, & Masson, 2015), rational number (Vamvakoussi, Van Dooren, & Verschaffel, 2012), and physical causality (Kelemen, Rottman, & Seston, 2013). Findings of this nature suggest that the goal of science education should not be to supplant intuitive conceptions of the world with more scientific ones but to teach students when and how to discriminate between the two types of conceptions (Potvin, 2013;Shtulman & Lombrozo, in press).…”