认知与发展心理学研究室知识库

    学前儿童是否具有独立于朴素心理学和朴素物理学的朴素生物学“理论”，是儿童认知发展研究者们争论的焦点。本研究根据生物的基本特征—目的指向性，通过动画呈现故事脚本的方式，系统探查4-7岁儿童在目的指向性维度上的本体区分和因果认知的发展，以及在此维度上的朴素生物学“理论”的形成，主要结果如下:
    (1)儿童在目的指向性维度上进行生物与非生物区分的认知发展，受到领域知识的影响。随着年龄的增长，儿童的认知发展水平逐步提高，在无提示条件下，4岁儿童处于“矛盾混杂”的模式;5岁儿童处于“动物混杂”的模式;6岁和7岁儿童处于“生物混杂”的模式。经领域知识提示后，4, 5岁儿童发展到“生物混杂”的模式，6, 7岁儿童发展到生物的模式。
   (2)儿童对动物、植物和非生物基于本体的因果解释的认知发展表现出顺序性和阶段性:4岁儿童对植物基于本体的因果认知较好;5岁儿童对生物包括动物和植物基于本体的因果认知较好;6, 7岁儿童对动物、植物和非生物都能进行合理的基于本体的因果认知，领域知识影响儿童的因果认知，但是没有改变儿童因果认知发展的模式。
   (3) 4岁儿童能够对人的三种生物需要(吃、喝、睡)引起的目的指向行为进行非意图的生物学解释，随着年龄的增长，表现出越来越好的生物学认知。学前儿童能够认识到社会因素和心理因素影响人的生物需要行为。
   (4)儿童对不熟悉物体目的指向运动的认知表现出年龄差异，4岁儿童不能利用目的指向运动对不熟悉本体进行生物与非生物的区分，但是5岁、6岁和7岁儿童都能够把目的指向运动作为区分生物与非生物的线索，4-5岁是一个快速发展期，速度不影响儿童的生物与非生物判断，但是轨迹影响儿童的生物判断，儿童对曲线运动条件下的生物判断显著多于直线运动。
   (5)本实验条件下，学前儿童在目的指向性维度上逐渐形成了朴素生物学“理论”。

  Researchers have been argued about whether preschoolers own a naive biology theory independent from their naive physics and naive psychology theory. To develop a theory-like understanding of the living world, it is important for children to understand that only living things can act to gain self-beneficial goal. This research examined 4-7 year-old children's distinction between living things and non-living things and their causality cognition using flash movies designed on the bases of goal-directed action which is one of the basic characteristics of living things  to explore young children's naive biological theory. Results suggested that:
  (1) Children's distinction between living things and non-living things was  influenced by domain knowledge and grew better with age. When there was no cue knowledge presented, 4-year-olds were at a stage of contradiction  complexity, Syear-olds were at a stage of animal complexity, 6-7 year-olds were at a stage of living things complexity; When cue knowledge was presented, 4 and 5一year-olds were at stage of living things complexity, and    6 and 7-year-olds were at stage of living things.
  (2)Children's causality cognition of entity showed the following orders and stages: 4-year-olds understand plants, 5-year-olds can understand living things including animals and plants, and 6 and 7-year-olds have a good understanding of the three domains including animals, plants and non-livin things.  The  development  of causality  cognition  of entity  based  was   influenced by domain knowledge, but the models of causality cognition were not influenced.
  (3)4-year-olds  can explain the three kinds of human beings' biological goal-directed action (including eating, drinking water and sleeping) using non-intention  biological  reasoning.  What's  more,  preschoolers  can understand that the action of biplogical needs influenced by social and psychological factors. Biological cognition is developed with age.
  (4) Age difference existed when understanding goal-directed action of novel entities: For 4-year-olds, goal-directed movement can elicit no more life judgments than aimless movement. However, 5-year-olds can identify living things and non-living things using the cue of goal-directed movement. Their judgments are influenced by track of movement rather than moving speed: more life judgments were made in the curvilinear movement than in the rectilineal movement.