Specifying the domain-general resources that contribute to conceptual construction: Evidence from the child’s acquisition of vitalist biology

Tardiff, Nathan; Bascandziev, Igor; Carey, Susan; Zaitchik, Deborah

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104090

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…The finding that cognitive reflection predicts science learning parallels findings from studies showing that executive function predicts science learning (Bascandziev et al, 2018; Tardiff et al, 2020; Vosniadou et al, 2018). How might cognitive reflection and executive function be related?…”

Section: Cognitive Reflection and Executive Functionsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…All three executive function skills predict children's understanding of counterintuitive concepts, especially inhibitory control and set shifting (Tardiff et al, 2020; Vosniadou et al, 2018), but cognitive reflection is a stronger predictor. CRT‐D scores predicted children's understanding of vitalism and mathematical equivalence more strongly than—and independently of—their performance on the three executive‐function tasks noted earlier (Young & Shtulman, 2020a).…”

Section: Cognitive Reflection and Executive Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The development of cognitive reflection

Shtulman

Young

2022

Child Dev Perspectives

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What do cows drink? The correct answer is water, but many are tempted to say milk. The disposition to override an intuitive response (milk) with a more analytic response (water) is known as cognitive reflection. Tests of cognitive reflection predict a wide range of skills and abilities in adults. In this article, we discuss the construction of a developmental version of the cognitive reflection test and explore how it predicts rational thinking and normative thinking dispositions in elementary school‐aged children, independent of age, executive function, and cultural context. We also explore how the test predicts children's mastery of counterintuitive concepts in science and mathematics. Findings suggest that cognitive reflection may be a prerequisite for developing, and improving, analytic thought, thus highlighting the value of studying cognitive reflection from a developmental perspective.

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Section: Cognitive Reflection and Executive Functionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Cognitive Reflection and Executive Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The development of cognitive reflection

Shtulman

Young

2022

Child Dev Perspectives

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“…Vosniadou et al also measured children's executive function skills -set-shifting ability and inhibitory control -and found that children with higher executive function were more likely to categorize the target items by their scientific properties and were faster to do so (see also Bascandziev et al, 2018;Tardiff et al, 2020). These findings echo our finding that children with higher cognitive reflection were more accurate at verifying counterintuitive scientific ideas, and they raise questions about the relation between cognitive reflection and executive function.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

How Children’s Cognitive Reflection Shapes Their Science Understanding

Young,

Shtulman

2020

Front. Psychol.

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Learning science requires contending with intuitions that are incompatible with scientific principles, such as the intuition that animals are alive but plants are not or the intuition that solids are composed of matter but gases are not. Here, we explore the tension between science and intuition in elementary school-aged children and whether that tension is moderated by children's tendency to reflect on their intuitions. Our participants were children between the ages of 5 and 12 years (n = 142). They were administered a statement-verification task, in which they judged statements about life and matter as true or false, as well as a children's Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT-D), in which they answered "brain teasers" designed to elicit an intuitive, yet inaccurate, response that could be corrected upon further reflection. Participants also received a tutorial on the scientific properties of life or matter, sandwiched between two blocks of the statementverification task. We found that performance on the statement-verification task, which pitted scientific conceptions against intuitive conceptions (e.g., "cactuses are alive"), was predicted by performance on the CRT-D, independent of age. Children with higher levels of cognitive reflection verified scientific statements more accurately before the tutorial, and they made greater gains in accuracy following the tutorial. These results indicate that children experience conflict between scientific and intuitive conceptions of a domain in the earliest stages of acquiring scientific knowledge but can learn to resolve that conflict in favor of scientific conceptions, particularly if they are predisposed toward cognitive reflection.

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“…Composite EF ability positively predicts science learning in preschool children ( Nayfield et al, 2013 ; Bauer and Booth, 2019 ). It also predicts knowledge of biological concepts in early elementary school children ( Zaitchik et al, 2014 ; Tardiff et al, 2020 ). Finally, individual differences in inhibition predict science achievement in middle school children as measured by standardized science test scores ( St. Clair-Thompson and Gathercole, 2006 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Executive function predictors of science achievement in middle-school students

Varma,

Van Boekel,

Aylward

et al. 2023

Front. Psychol.

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Cognitive flexibility as measured by the Wisconsin Card Sort Task (WCST) has long been associated with frontal lobe function. More recently, this construct has been associated with executive function (EF), which shares overlapping neural correlates. Here, we investigate the relationship between EF, cognitive flexibility, and science achievement in adolescents. This is important because there are fewer educational neuroscience studies of scientific reasoning than of other academically relevant forms of cognition (i.e., mathematical thinking and language understanding). Eighth grade students at a diverse middle school in the Midwestern US completed classroom-adapted measures of three EFs (shifting, inhibition, and updating) and the WCST. Science achievement was indexed by students’ standardized test scores and their end-of-the-year science class grades. Among the EF measures, updating was strongly predictive of science achievement. The association between cognitive flexibility and science achievement was comparatively weaker. These findings illuminate the relationship between EF, cognitive flexibility, and science achievement. A methodological contribution was the development of paper-and-pencil based versions of standard EF and cognitive flexibility measures suitable for classroom administration. We expect these materials to help support future classroom-based studies of EF and cognitive flexibility, and whether training these abilities in adolescent learners improves their science achievement.

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Specifying the domain-general resources that contribute to conceptual construction: Evidence from the child’s acquisition of vitalist biology

Cited by 13 publications

References 82 publications

The development of cognitive reflection

The development of cognitive reflection

How Children’s Cognitive Reflection Shapes Their Science Understanding

Executive function predictors of science achievement in middle-school students

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