Language and experience influence children's biological induction

Florencia K. Anggoro, Douglas L. Medin, Sandra R. Waxman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Children's reasoning about biological concepts is influenced not only by their experiences in the natural world and in their classrooms, but also by the way that these concepts are named. In English, 'animal' can refer either to (a) exclusively non-human animals, or (b) all animate beings (human and non-human animals). In Indonesian, this category of animate beings has no dedicated name. Here, we ask whether this difference in naming has consequences for children's reasoning about humans and non-human animals. Results from English- and Indonesian-speaking children reveals differences in reasoning at age 6, differences that become attenuated by age 9. These results suggest that not only naming practices, but also biologically-relevant formal and informal learning experiences, influence children's reasoning about biological concepts.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)171-187
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Cognition and Culture
Volume10
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2010

Funding

This research was supported by NIH R01 HD 41653, NSF BCS-0132469, and NSF BCS-0745594. We thank Jennie Woodring and Jeanne Arijanti for their assistance with data collection in greater Chicago, IL, USA, and Jakarta, Indonesia. We are indebted to members of our research group for their insights and collaboration, and to the children, parents, and teachers who participated in this study.

Keywords

  • CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT
  • FOLKBIOLOGY
  • INDUCTION
  • NAMING

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Cultural Studies
  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

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