Domain-General Mechanisms of Science Learning and Reasoning

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

A scientifically literate population is of enormous social, cultural, and economic importance. Much research has investigated what scientific thinking is and how it can be taught, but progress in supporting scientific thinking requires identifying and exploiting the diverse mechanisms and cognitive resources involved in its development. The proposed symposium will discuss several candidate mechanisms —Theory of Mind, cognitive reflection, inhibitory control, structural alignment—and chart their contributions to the development of scientific thinking in several knowledge and skill domains.

Talk 1 will present longitudinal evidence that advanced Theory of Mind (i.e., an understanding of the recursive nature of mental states) at age 7 predicts subsequent epistemic understanding of science, experimentation skills, and data-interpretation skills at ages 8 to 10. Talk 2 will explore how elementary-school-aged children’s cognitive reflection facilitates data-interpretation skills and show that it strongly predicts covariation reasoning, even when controlling for age and executive function. Talk 3 will present evidence that second and third graders’ inhibitory control predicts both the initial construction and long-term expression of a scientifically-accurate understanding of natural selection. The final talk will demonstrate the efficacy of science instruction that supports structural alignment (i.e., mapping relational correspondences between different representations) in middle-school anatomy and elementary-school astronomy contexts. Together, these talks will advance our understanding of the domain-general mechanisms underpinning the development of domain-specific scientific thinking and how it might be facilitated by instruction.

Sub Unit

• Cognitive Processes

Chair

• Andrew Young, Northeastern Illinois University

Individual Presentations

• Advanced Theory of Mind and Scientific Reasoning: Longitudinal Relations From Kindergarten to Late Elementary School - Presenting Author: Christopher Osterhaus, University of Vechta; Non-Presenting Author: Susanne Koerber, Freiburg University of Education

• Children’s Cognitive Reflection Predicts Successful Interpretations of Covariation Data - Presenting Author: Andrew Young, Northeastern Illinois University; Non-Presenting Author: Andrew E Shtulman, Occidental College

• Inhibitory Control Supports Young Children’s Learning of Counterintuitive Scientific Ideas - Non-Presenting Author: Samuel Ronfard, University of Toronto; Non-Presenting Author: Sarah A Brown, Boston University; Non-Presenting Author: Erin Doncaster, Boston University; Non-Presenting Author: Emma Pitt, Northeastern University; Presenting Author: Deb Kelemen, Boston University

• Structural Alignment in Science Learning - Presenting Author: Benjamin D. Jee, Worcester State University; Non-Presenting Author: Florencia K. Anggoro, College of the Holy Cross; Non-Presenting Author: Bryan Matlen, WestEd; Non-Presenting Author: Nina Simms, Northwestern University; Non-Presenting Author: Dedre Gentner, Northwestern University