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50 Years of ERIC
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Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
ERIC Number: EJ597808
Record Type: CIJE
Publication Date: 1999
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: N/A
Reference Count: 0
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
Why Are Rocks Pointy? Children's Preference for Teleological Explanations of the Natural World.
Kelemen, Deborah
Developmental Psychology, v35 n6 p1440-52 Nov 1999
Two studies explored tendency of adults and first-, second-, and fourth-graders to explain properties of living/nonliving natural kinds in teleological terms. Findings indicated that children were more likely than adults to broadly explain properties in teleological terms. The kinds of functions they endorsed varied with age. Experimental interventions to reduce teleological bias influenced fourth graders only. (Author/KB)
Descriptors: Adults, Age Differences, Children, Classification, Cognitive Development, Scientific Principles
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: Causal Reasoning; Explanations; Teleology