Cognitive Apartheid: On the Manner in Which High School Students Understand Evolution without Believing in Evolution

Hermann, Ronald S.

doi:10.1007/s12052-012-0446-6

Cited by 34 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…One study found that being able to explain these concepts is uncorrelated with accepting them as true (Shtulman 2006). In other words, learning the content of evolutionary theory does not automatically lead to a belief that it is accurate and REJECTING EVOLUTION 577 true in the same way that someone might come to "believe" in photosynthesis after learning about how plants convert light into chemical energy (Hermann 2012).…”

Section: Two Models Of Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rejecting Evolution: The Role of Religion, Education, and Social Networks

Hill¹

2019

Sociology of Religion

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Large segments of the American public are skeptical of human evolution. Surveys consistently find that sizable minorities of the population, frequently near half, deny that an evolutionary process describes how human life developed. Using data from the National Study of Youth and Religion, I examine the role of religion and education in predicting who changes their beliefs about evolution between late adolescence and early emerging adulthood. I conclude that religion is far more important than educational attainment in predicting changing beliefs about evolution. Perhaps more importantly, I find that social networks play an important moderating role in this process. High personal religiousness is only associated with the maintenance of creationist beliefs over time when the respondent is embedded in a social network of co-religionists. This finding suggests that researchers should pay far more attention to the social context of belief formation and change.

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Section: Two Models Of Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rejecting Evolution: The Role of Religion, Education, and Social Networks

Hill¹

2019

Sociology of Religion

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“…Misunderstandings of natural selection and other evolutionary mechanisms are not necessarily related to the pervasive resistance to the idea of evolutionary origins, especially of humans (Evans et al 2010;Hermann 2012;Kahan 2015). Inconsistent use of terms-such as acceptance, belief, understanding, and knowledge-and difficulties measuring those constructs, has made it challenging to achieve consensus on the nature of the relationship between understanding and acceptance (Smith 2009;Southerland et al 2001).…”

Section: Belief Understanding Acceptance and Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Teleological reasoning, not acceptance of evolution, impacts students’ ability to learn natural selection

et al. 2017

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Background: How acceptance of evolution relates to understanding of evolution remains controversial despite decades of research. It even remains unclear whether cultural/attitudinal factors or cognitive factors have a greater impact on student ability to learn evolutionary biology. This study examined the influence of cultural/attitudinal factors (religiosity, acceptance of evolution, and parents' attitudes towards evolution) and cognitive factors (teleological reasoning and prior understanding of natural selection) on students' learning of natural selection over a semesterlong undergraduate course in evolutionary medicine.Method: Pre-post course surveys measured cognitive factors, including teleological reasoning and prior understanding of natural selection, and also cultural/attitudinal factors, including acceptance of evolution, parent attitudes towards evolution, and religiosity. We analyzed how these measures influenced increased understanding of natural selection over the semester. Results:After controlling for other related variables, parent attitude towards evolution and religiosity predicted students' acceptance of evolution, but did not predict students' learning gains of natural selection over the semester. Conversely, lower levels of teleological reasoning predicted learning gains in understanding natural selection over the course, but did not predict students' acceptance of evolution. Conclusions:Acceptance of evolution did not predict students' ability to learn natural selection over a semester in an evolutionary medicine course. However, teleological reasoning did impact students' ability to learn natural selection.

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“…One study found that being able to explain these concepts is uncorrelated with accepting them as true (Shtulman ). In other words, learning the content of evolutionary theory does not automatically lead to a belief that it is accurate and true in the same way that someone might come to “believe” in photosynthesis after learning about how plants convert light into chemical energy (Hermann ).…”

Section: Two Models Of Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rejecting Evolution: The Role of Religion, Education, and Social Networks

Hill

2014

Scientific Study of Religion

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Large segments of the American public are skeptical of human evolution. Surveys consistently find that sizable minorities of the population, frequently near half, deny that an evolutionary process describes how human life developed. Using data from the National Study of Youth and Religion, I examine the role of religion and education in predicting who changes their beliefs about evolution between late adolescence and early emerging adulthood. I conclude that religion is far more important than educational attainment in predicting changing beliefs about evolution. Perhaps more importantly, I find that social networks play an important moderating role in this process. High personal religiousness is only associated with the maintenance of creationist beliefs over time when the respondent is embedded in a social network of co‐religionists. This finding suggests that researchers should pay far more attention to the social context of belief formation and change.

show abstract

Cognitive Apartheid: On the Manner in Which High School Students Understand Evolution without Believing in Evolution

Cited by 34 publications

References 26 publications

Rejecting Evolution: The Role of Religion, Education, and Social Networks

Rejecting Evolution: The Role of Religion, Education, and Social Networks

Teleological reasoning, not acceptance of evolution, impacts students’ ability to learn natural selection

Rejecting Evolution: The Role of Religion, Education, and Social Networks

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