The Role of Testimony in the Development of Critical Thinking

• In Event: Excellence in Education Research: Early-Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

Children are expected to engage in critical thinking by the time they enter kindergarten, yet developmental research exploring children’s critical thinking abilities at this age is mixed. Some research argues that critical thinking skills have not yet developed by kindergarten, whereas other research suggests that even preschoolers are capable of engaging in such thinking.

One reason for the conflicting findings may be variability in the use of the adult to scaffold the learner. The proposed project aims to explore how adult explanations can aid in children’s ability to engage in critical thinking when playing a novel categorization game. Here, I present initial findings from a pre-post between-subjects design exploring preschoolers’ critical thinking abilities with and without adult scaffolding. We aim to determine whether learned critical thinking strategies are retained after a 1-week delay, and whether or not individual differences in metacognitive understanding can be viewed as a mechanism for the development of critical thinking. Findings will have implications on sensitive interventions aimed at promoting critical thinking skills for preschool and kindergarten students.

Author

• Kathleen H. Corriveau, Boston University