Emerging differentiation of folkbiology and folkpsychology: Attributions of biological and psychological properties to living things
Emerging differentiation of folkbiology and folkpsychology: Attributions of biological and psychological properties to living things
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DOI：
10.2307/1131915
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发表时间：
1995-12-01
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Coley, JD
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Coley, JD
研究表明，对于成年人来说，“民间心理学”和“民间生物学”代表了推理生物的不同概念领域。然而，尚不清楚这些领域对于儿童是否有不同。过去的研究表明，这两个系统在 10 岁之前都是混乱的，而彻底的理论变化解释了最终的分化。为了验证这一说法，向 16 名年龄分别为 6 岁、8 岁和成人的受试者展示了掠食性动物和家养动物的图片，并询问每只动物是否表现出各种生物学特性（例如，有血液）和心理特性（例如，可以思考、可以感到愤怒）。所有年龄段的受试者对生物特征和心理特征表现出明显不同的归因模式。这种归因模式的分离提供了证据，表明到了幼儿园，民间心理学和民间生物学的概念已经充分区分，足以构成独特且独立的概念领域。这反过来表明，关于生物的根本理论变化要么发生在正规教育开始之前，要么不能解释民间生物学知识的发展。
Research suggests that for adults, ''folkpsychology'' and ''folkbiology'' represent distinct conceptual domains for reasoning about living things. However, it is not clear whether these domains are distinct for children; past work suggests that the 2 systems are confused until age 10, and that radical theory change accounts for eventual differentiation. To examine this claim, 16 subjects each at ages 6, 8, and adult were shown pictures of predatory and domestic animals and asked whether each animal displayed a variety of biological properties (e.g., has blood) and psychological properties (e.g., can think, can feel angry). Subjects at all ages showed clearly different attribution patterns for biological versus psychological properties. This dissociation of attribution patterns provides evidence that by kindergarten, notions of folkpsychology and folkbiology are sufficiently differentiated to constitute distinct and independent conceptual domains. This in turn suggests that radical theory change regarding living things either occurs prior to the beginning of formal education, or does not explain the development of folkbiological knowledge.