Coexistence of scientific knowledge and naive beliefs in the domain of biology

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K03344
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 10020:Educational psychology-related
• 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): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 共存モデル / 病気理解 / 概念発達 / 生気論 / 食事場面 / 内在的正義 / 説明モデル / 新型コロナウイルス感染症

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The development of illness understanding was examined on the basis of a developmental model in which immature naive beliefs and scientific knowledge coexist throughout life (i.e., coexistence model), rather than a developmental perspective in which immature childhood understanding is replaced by logical and scientific understanding (i.e., displacement model). It has been shown that naive beliefs evolve into more sophisticated explanatory models and are sometimes integrated with scientific knowledge.
To examine the sociocultural basis of understanding, observations of dietary and hygiene practices in preschools were conducted. Although the spread of COVID-19 made it impossible to conduct the originally planned cross-cultural comparison, we were able to make comparisons before and after the spread of the infection in Japan and gain insight into the process by which children's understanding is socio-culturally constructed.

Free Research Field

発達心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

共存モデルにたつ理解の検討は病気・人類の起源・死等について進んでいるが，共存形態および共存の源泉に関する検討は国際的にも十分でない。本研究では発達初期には科学的知識と素朴信念が独立しているものの，徐々に統合されていくこと，統合の個人差は教育歴や病歴だけでは説明できないこと，さらに「どのように」(how)の問いではなく「なぜ」(why)の問いに答える形で素朴信念に基づく説明が説明力をもつことを明らかにした。ここに学術的意義がある。COVID-19の感染拡大により病気・衛生に関する理解をとりまく社会的状況に変化がみられたこと，その影響が大人の子ども観にも及ぶことを明らかにした点に社会的意義がある。