Folkbiology

Solomon, Gregg E. A.; Zaitchik, Deborah

doi:10.1002/wcs.150

Cited by 21 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 100 publications

(86 reference statements)

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“…In addition, it is also interesting to note that as a general rule, the younger the subjects of the sample are, the more frequent the trend is not to consider plants as living entities. Once again these findings are in line with previous research which indicates that young children tend to attribute animacy to a wide set of entities that includes moving objects (the sun and clouds) and, additionally, they tend to be reluctant to judge plants to be alive (Anggoro et al 2005; Gatt et al 2007; Leddon et al, 2009, 2011; Opfer & Siegler, 2004; Solomon & Zaitchik, 2012). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…According to this paradigm, children’s limitations when handling non evident cause-and-effect relationships that underlie many biological phenomena and, also, the ontological egocentrism that characterizes children during the preoperational stage (Kesselring & M&üller, 2011) allow very little room for the consideration that young children’s concept of animacy might have some degree of internal coherence, consistency and predictive value (Solomon & Zaitchik, 2012). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental judgment in early childhood and its relationship with the understanding of the concept of living beings

Villarroel

2013

SpringerPlus

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The evidence collected concerning the biocentric judgment that young children express when evaluating human actions on the environment leads some scholars to suggest that an essential understanding of the notion of living beings should appear earlier than previously believed.This research project aims to study that assumption. To this end, young children’s choice when they are put in situation of having to compare and choose the most negative option between environmentally harmful actions and the breaking of social conventions are examined. Afterwards, the results are categorized in relation to those obtained from the study of children’s grasp of the distinction between living beings and inanimate entities.The data is analysed according to the individuals’ age and overall, it suggests a lack of relationship between environmental judgment and the understanding of the concept of living beings. The final results are discussed in keeping with recent research in the field of moral development that underscores the role that unconscious emotional processing plays in the individual’s normative judgment.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental judgment in early childhood and its relationship with the understanding of the concept of living beings

Villarroel

2013

SpringerPlus

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“…The development that age brings with it is a fundamental factor in achieving an understanding of the concept of the living being, and more specifically, in understanding that plants are beings with vitality and not mere inert objects [14]. In general, this information supports the hypothesis that the conceptualization of living things in young children is far from being fully understood by adults [25,26].…”

Section: Discussion Of Resultssupporting

confidence: 53%

Environmental Awareness and Its Relationship with the Concept of the Living Being: A Longitudinal Study

2018

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Abstract:There is currently a growing theoretical discussion about the foundations that underlie the development of environmental awareness and nature care in early childhood. The aim of this study is to analyze how the environmental concerns of young children emerge and evolve during early childhood and whether these concerns are connected to an understanding of the biological notion of the living being. This study is designed to address methodological limitations of previous studies through a longitudinal axis and an extensive age sample. A sample of 178 children between the ages of four and nine participated at two different testing times for a period of one year. The methodology includes the categorization of various images of living beings and inert entities in order to analyze their understanding of living organisms. Dilemmas involving environmental, moral and socio-conventional situations are presented to examine and compare how young children view transgressions against plant life. The results reveal that young children's judgments about environmental behaviors may arise before the development of an understanding of the concept of the living being. It is therefore proposed that this type of understanding does not support environmental awareness. Previous research indicates that complex biological concepts may be successfully introduced at the preschool age, provided that suitable educational interventions are designed for the initial stages of education. In this regard, there is evidence that a basic understanding of the issue of the ecological interactions among organisms may be achieved in the preschool years.

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“…Preschool-and early elementary school-age children tend to construe life and its properties in animistic terms (Carey, 1985;Hatano & Inagaki, 1994;Solomon & Zaitchik, 2012). They identify life with the capacity for self-directed motion (as opposed to metabolic processing), and they identify biological properties with the psychological experiences that accompany those properties (as opposed to their role in sustaining vital functions).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%