The role of individual differences in executive function on the child?s acquisition of intuitive biology

在EAGER项目中，研究者们试图发现当儿童开始获得基础生物学概念时，影响发展性学习过程的因素。研究者们假设，儿童学习直觉生物学的个体差异部分是由于他们的执行功能（EF）能力的差异。 执行功能包括一般认知过程的集合，如工作记忆、冲突监控和抑制。 这项研究将包括测试美国儿童和老年人的自然选择知识以及他们的执行功能能力。该假设将通过一系列认知测试（以检查EF的差异）进行测试，并通过与5-8岁的儿童和老年人进行关于生命周期和生物特性等基本生物学概念的访谈。 如果这一假设被证明是正确的，它将提出一个新的或竞争性的解释，说明误解是如何形成的，并可能在整个生命周期中被“纠正”。该项目在其相对于研究文献的地位以及它可能对教学材料，教学和学习的影响方面具有潜在的变革性。

In this EAGER proposal, the investigators seek to discover factors that affect developmental learning processes when children begin to acquire concepts of basic biology.The investigators hypothesize that individual differences in children's learning of intuitive biology are partly due to differences in their executive function (EF) abilities. EF includes the set of general cognitive processes, such as working memory, conflict monitoring, and inhibition. The research will include testing young children's and elder Americans' knowledge of natural selection as well as their executive functioning capabilities. The hypothesis will be tested by administering a battery of cognitive tests (to examine differences in EF) and through interviews with children ages 5-8 and elder adults about basic biological concepts such as the life cycle and properties of living things. If this hypothesis proves to be true, it would suggest a new or competing explanation for how misconceptions are formed and possibly be "corrected" throughout the life span. The project is potentially transformative in its position relative to the research literature and in terms of the implications it may have for instructional materials, teaching, and learning.