Examination of illness conceptions based on co-existence model

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K04375
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Educational psychology
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Toyama Noriko 早稲田大学, 人間科学学術院, 教授 (80328038)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 素朴理論 / 病気の理解 / 公正世界信念 / 内在的正義 / 共存モデル / 概念獲得

Outline of Final Research Achievements

According to the traditional perspectives of cognitive development, young children gradually abandon an immature, magic-based mode of reasoning in favor of a more mature, rational style of reasoning that entails an appreciation for cause-and-effect relationships. In contrast, recent studies have suggested that the tendency to invoke superstitious conceptions does not decrease with age. Based on this developmental model, so-called co-existence model, the present study examined the extent to which folk and traditional beliefs (e.g., the belief in a just world) impact children’s and adults’ reasoning about illnesses. Six experiments and two observational studies have shown that both children and adults committed to scientific and also folk reasoning such as immanent justice or just world beliefs and that science-based biological understandings and folk beliefs do not merely co-exist; instead, they integratively and collaboratively construct our understanding of illness.

Free Research Field

発達心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ピアジェ以来，認知発達研究では，未熟な理解が合理的理解に置き換わるとする置き換えモデルが暗黙の前提とされてきた。これに対して本研究では，伝統的な発達観では病気に関する理解の発達を十分に説明できないことを実証的に明らかにした。本研究の結果は，伝統的な発達観に再考を迫るものといえる。さらに本研究では，発達各期の子ども（あるいは大人）が，病気の原因や発症メカニズム，そしてその治療についてどのような理解を有しているかを明らかにしたが，これらは健康管理や感染予防などの衛生教育を行うにあたり，基礎的な資料を提供するという点で実践的な意義をもつ。