Why are rocks pointy? Children's preference for teleological explanations of the natural world.
Why are rocks pointy? Children's preference for teleological explanations of the natural world.
复制标题
石头为什么是尖的？
DOI：
10.1037//0012-1649.35.6.1440
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发表时间：
1999
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Kelemen,D
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kelemen,D
目的论的解释是基于这样一个假设，即一个对象或行为是为了一个目的而存在的。两项研究探讨了成年人和小学一、二、四年级儿童用目的论术语解释有生命和无生命的自然种类的倾向。与幼儿具有混杂的目的论倾向的假设一致，研究1发现，儿童比成人更有可能用目的论的术语广泛地解释生物和非生物自然种类的属性，尽管他们认可的功能种类随年龄而变化。研究2试图通过引入一个预试验来减少儿童广泛的目的论偏见，该预试验用非目的论的术语描述了无生命的自然种类形成的物理过程。尽管有这种尝试，研究2复制了研究1的效果，只有四年级学生表现出对目的论解释的偏好。
Teleological explanations are based on the assumption that an object or behavior exists for a purpose. Two studies explored the tendency of adults and first-, second-, and fourth-grade elementary-school children to explain the properties of living and nonliving natural kinds in teleological terms. Consistent with the hypothesis that young children possess a promiscuous teleological tendency, Study 1 found that children were more likely than adults to broadly explain the properties of both living and nonliving natural kinds in teleological terms, although the kinds of functions that they endorsed varied with age. Study 2 was an attempt to reduce children's broad teleological bias by introducing a pretrial that described, in nonteleological terms, the physical process by which nonliving natural kinds form. In spite of this attempt, Study 2 replicated the effects of Study 1, with only fourth graders showing any shift in preference for teleological explanation.