Humans (really) are animals: picture-book reading influences 5-year-old urban children's construal of the relation between humans and non-human animals

"It kinda has like a mind": Children's and parents' beliefs concerning viral disease transmission for COVID-19 and the common cold

How people reason about disease transmission is central to their commonsense theories, scientific literacy, and adherence to public health guidelines. This study provided an in-depth assessment of U.S. children's (ages 5-12, N = 180) and their parents' (N = 125) understanding of viral transmission of COVID-19 and the common cold, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary aim was to discover children's causal models of viral transmission, by asking them to predict and explain counter-intuitive outcomes (e.g., asymptomatic disease, symptom delay) and processes that cannot be directly observed (e.g., viral replication, how vaccines work). A secondary aim was to explore parental factors that might contribute to children's understanding. Although even the youngest children understood germs as disease-causing and were highly knowledgeable about certain behaviors that transmit or block viral disease (e.g., sneezing, mask-wearing), they generally failed to appreciate the processes that play out over time within the body. Overall, children appeared to rely on two competing mental models of viruses: one in which viruses operate strictly via mechanical processes (movement through space), and one in which viruses are small living creatures, able to grow in size and to move by themselves. These results suggest that distinct causal frameworks co-exist in children's understanding. A challenge for the future is how to teach children about illness as a biological process without also fostering inappropriate animism or anthropomorphism of viruses.

Science in stories: Implications for Latine children's science learning through home-based language practices

There is growing interest in stories as potentially powerful tools for science learning. In this mini-review article, we discuss theory and evidence indicating that, especially for young children, listening to and sharing stories with adult caregivers at home can make scientific ideas and inquiry practices meaningful and accessible. We review recent research offering evidence that stories presented in books can advance children's science learning. Nonetheless, most of this work focuses on middle-class European-American U. S. children and involves narrative story books. Given the national imperative to increase Latine representation in STEM education and career pursuits in the U. S., we argue that it is vital that we broaden the definition of stories to include oral narrative storytelling and other conversational routines that Latine families engage in at home. Cultural communities with firmly rooted oral traditions, such as those from Latin American heritage, rely frequently on oral storytelling rather than book reading to convey world and community knowledge to young children. Therefore, we advocate for a strengths-based approach that considers Latine families' everyday practices around science and storytelling on their own terms instead of contrasting them with European-American middle-class practices. We offer support for the view that for young children in Latine communities, culturally relevant oral practices, including personal narrative storytelling, can engender significant opportunities for family science learning at home.

Animal biodiversity and specificity in children's picture books

While animal biodiversity is declining globally, cultural representations of animals are highly prevalent in society and play an increasing part in shaping children's perceptions of animal diversity. We studied animal portrayals in children's picture books in the Netherlands, and coded over 2,200 animals from 217 award-winning books. We found a strong bias toward vertebrates, mammals in particular. Mammals were featured more often than other animals, played more prominent roles in the story, and were visually and textually specified more strongly. Furthermore, exotic and domestic species outnumbered native species. Picture books currently are likely to reinforce children's perceptions toward only a small part of animal biodiversity. While we realize that picture books have other primary aims, picture book makers could be inspired and encouraged to diversify and specify their portrayals of the natural world. This would broaden children's perceptions of the animal kingdom and could help foster lasting connections to biodiversity.

Young Children's Inductive Inferences Within Animals Are Affected by Whether Animals Are Presented Anthropomorphically in Films

Children are exposed to anthropomorphized animals in a variety of contexts. The literature that analyzes this phenomenon suggests that exposure to anthropomorphic media may strengthen children's anthropocentric representation of animals. There is an as yet unexplored difference between anthropomorphized and realistic depictions of multiple animal species presented simultaneously in films. The anthropomorphized animals all behave like humans, so they are more behaviorally similar to one another than animals depicted realistically. We asked whether witnessing multiple species depicted anthropomorphically or realistically influences the way 5-year-old children perceive internal commonalities among animals. One group of children (n = 37) watched a cartoon presenting multiple species of anthropomorphized animals, the other group (n = 38) watched a nature documentary that also presented multiple species. Both groups extended a novel internal feature from an animal to a variety of items including diverse animal species. Children watching a cartoon made significantly stronger projections to non-human animals than children watching the documentary. Children's projections to humans and inanimate objects did not differ between the groups and were uniformly low. One of the possible explanations of the results is in terms of children's essentialist expectation that behavior is caused by internal properties.

Whitewashing Nature: Sanitized Depictions of Biology in Children's Books and Parent-Child Conversation

The biological world includes many negatively valenced activities, like predation, parasitism, and disease. Do children's books cover these activities? And how do parents discuss them with their children? In a content analysis of children's nature books (Study 1), we found that negatively valenced concepts were rarely depicted across genres and reading levels. When parents encountered negative information in books (Studies 2-3), they did not omit it but rather elaborated on it, adding their own comments and questions, and their children (ages 3-11) were more likely to remember the negative information but less likely to generalize that information beyond the animal in the book. These findings suggest that early input relevant to biological competition may hamper children's developing understanding of ecology and evolution.

The effect of object similarity and alignment of examples on children's learning and transfer from picture books

Story picture books with examples can be used to teach young children science concepts. Learners can abstract relational information by comparing the analogical examples in the books, leading to a more abstract transferrable understanding of the concept. The purpose of this study was to determine whether manipulating the content or arrangement of the examples included in a picture book would support children's generalization and transfer of a relational concept, namely color camouflage. In total, 81 3-year-olds and 80 4-year-olds were read one of four books at two visits spaced approximately 1 week apart. Examples were manipulated in a 2 (Object Similarity: high or low) × 2 (Arrangement: interleaved or blocked) design. At each visit, children were asked forced-choice questions with photographs (generalization) and real animals (transfer) and needed to explain their choices. At the first visit, only 3-year-olds who had been read a book with high object similarity displayed generalization and transfer. After they were read the same book again at the second visit, 3-year-olds in all conditions performed above chance on generalization questions but made more correct selections if they had been read the books with blocked examples. The 4-year-olds showed no book-related differences on forced-choice questions at either visit but gave better explanations at the second visit if they had been read interleaved books. Our study provides evidence that picture books with analogical examples can be used to teach children about science but that different types and arrangements of examples may better support children at different ages and with different amounts of prior experience.

The friendly fossa: The effect of anthropomorphic language on learning about unfamiliar animals through both storybooks and live animal experiences

Children's storybooks about animals often use elements of fantasy; even educational storybooks intended to teach children about factual and biological properties include talking animals depicted as more like humans than animals. Previous research has found that anthropomorphic images, specifically in storybooks, hinder factual learning and thus should not be used in the context of educational experiences. However, little research has explored the impact of anthropomorphic language alone as well as its use in other contexts such as zoos where parents often naturally use anthropomorphic language. The current studies explored the impact of anthropomorphic language on learning about an unfamiliar animal (fossa) across two contexts: storybooks (Study 1; N = 48; age range = 4;0-6;3 [years; months]) and a zoo (Study 2a; N = 29; age range = 4;5-7;10). An adult comparison group (Study 2b, N = 82) was also included. Across both studies, there was no evidence that anthropomorphic language decreased factual learning. However, children given anthropomorphic information about a fossa were more likely to generalize anthropomorphic traits, such as emotions, intentions, and preferences, to other fossas, and this was consistent with the adult comparison group. We discuss considerations for parents and educators regarding the appropriateness of fantastical language about animals in experiences specifically designed to support biological learning.

Anthropomorphism in comparative affective science: Advocating a mindful approach

Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human-like capacities and traits to non-human entities. Anthropomorphism is ubiquitous in everyday life and in scientific domains, operating both implicitly and explicitly as a function of the human lens through which we view the world. A rich history of work in psychology, animal behavior, cognitive science, and philosophy has highlighted the negative and, to a lesser degree, the positive implications of anthropomorphism. In this article, we aim to provide a nuanced perspective of how anthropomorphism impacts the work of comparative affective science. Specifically, we discuss three domains of empirical inquiry in which lessons can be drawn about the benefits and pitfalls of anthropomorphism: responses to death, inequity aversion, and prosocial behavior. On balance, we advocate a mindful approach to anthropomorphizing in comparative affective science, and comparative science more generally.

Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Using Picture Books: The Effect of Book Character and Message Framing

The aim of this study was to investigate whether and how a picture book preventing child sexual abuse can improve children's self-protection skills. The study was conducted in China with Chinese children. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects design, character in the book (human versus animal) and message framing (gain versus loss) were manipulated. Compared to a baseline group who were not exposed to the prevention book, children in the experimental groups significantly enhanced their ability to recognize a potential abuse situation and refuse an inappropriate touch request. Results suggest that the prevention picture books are more effective when using a human character and a gain-framed message. The explanation for this was that human characters simulated children's perceived norm and gain-framed messages increased children's message recall, perceived self-efficacy and positive attitude toward the message, all of which in turn positively affected children's self-protection skills.

Imagining Others' Minds: The Positive Relation Between Children's Role Play and Anthropomorphism

Children’s role playing, whether personifying toys or imagining invisible friends, involves imagining others’ minds and internal states. Similarly, anthropomorphism – the attribution of internal states to non-human others (e.g., animals, inanimate nature, or technologies) – also involves imagining others’ minds and internal states. We propose that the imaginative process of simulating and projecting internal states is common to both role play and anthropomorphism. The current study investigated the relation between children’s role play and anthropomorphism. Ninety children (5, 7, and 9 years) were administered Individual Differences in Anthropomorphism Questionnaire – Child Form (IDAQ-CF), comprised of the technology-inanimate nature and animal subscales, and the Role Play Scale, which assessed (a) impersonation of animals, people, and/or machines and (b) imaginary companions (ICs), including invisible friends and personified toys. Results indicated that the imaginative act of impersonating an animal, person, and/or machine was positively related to anthropomorphism, and specifically anthropomorphism of inanimate nature and technology. Second, anthropomorphism of animals was highest amongst children with invisible ICs, followed by those with toy ICs and those who impersonated. Finally, children who frequently engaged with an invisible ICs more readily anthropomorphized in general and technology and inanimate nature in particular relative to all other children. Results are discussed in terms of the differing degrees of imagination involved in anthropomorphism of animals versus technology and inanimate nature.

The Role of Book Features in Young Children's Transfer of Information from Picture Books to Real-World Contexts

Picture books are an important source of new language, concepts, and lessons for young children. A large body of research has documented the nature of parent-child interactions during shared book reading. A new body of research has begun to investigate the features of picture books that support children's learning and transfer of that information to the real world. In this paper, we discuss how children's symbolic development, analogical reasoning, and reasoning about fantasy may constrain their ability to take away content information from picture books. We then review the nascent body of findings that has focused on the impact of picture book features on children's learning and transfer of words and letters, science concepts, problem solutions, and morals from picture books. In each domain of learning we discuss how children's development may interact with book features to impact their learning. We conclude that children's ability to learn and transfer content from picture books can be disrupted by some book features and research should directly examine the interaction between children's developing abilities and book characteristics on children's learning.

Learning About Real Animals From Anthropomorphic Media

While a large body of empirical research has investigated preschool-aged children’s knowledge of the natural world, comparatively little attention has been paid to the relevant cultural and social input that shapes the content and development of children’s factual knowledge and conceptual reasoning. In the current research, we experimentally examined the impact of exposure to one particularly common and relevant cultural tool for learning about living things: storybooks. While anthropomorphism—the attribution of human characteristics to nonhuman entities—has long been a staple of children’s storybooks, researchers have only recently focused on directly measuring its effect on children’s knowledge about real animals. Contrary to previous research, we found that anthropomorphic language and pictures in storybooks did not interfere with factual learning about real animals. Even though children did retell anthropomorphic stories using anthropomorphic language, they were nonetheless better at providing factual, biological explanations after being read an anthropomorphic storybook. Our results suggest that anthropomorphism in storybooks may not have the strong, negative impact as previously suggested and supports the need for further research on the potential educational role of fantasy elements such as anthropomorphism in children’s media.

Daily animal exposure and children's biological concepts

A large body of research has focused on the developmental trajectory of children's acquisition of a theoretically coherent naive biology. However, considerably less work has focused on how specific daily experiences shape the development of children's knowledge about living things. In the current research, we investigated one common experience that might contribute to biological knowledge development during early childhood-pet ownership. In Study 1, we investigated how children interact with pets by observing 24 preschool-aged children with their pet cats or dogs and asking parents about their children's daily involvement with the pets. We found that most of young children's observed and reported interactions with their pets are reciprocal social interactions. In Study 2, we tested whether children who have daily social experiences with animals are more likely to attribute biological properties to animals than children without pets. Both 3- and 5-year-olds with pets were more likely to attribute biological properties to animals than those without pets. Similarly, both older and younger children with pets showed less anthropocentric patterns of extension of novel biological information. The results suggest that having pets may facilitate the development of a more sophisticated, human-inclusive representation of animals.

Perspectives on culture and concepts

The well-respected tradition of research on concepts uses cross-cultural comparisons to explore which aspects of conceptual behavior are universal versus culturally variable. This work continues, but it is being supplemented by intensified efforts to study how conceptual systems and cultural systems interact to modify and support each other. For example, cultural studies within the framework of domain specificity (e.g., folkphysics, folkpsychology, folkbiology) are beginning to query the domains themselves and offer alternative organizing principles (e.g., folksociology, folkecology). Findings highlight the multifaceted nature of both concepts and culture: Individuals adopt distinct conceptual construals in accordance with culturally infused systems such as language and discourse, knowledge and beliefs, and epistemological orientations. This picture complicates questions about cognitive universality or variability, suggesting that researchers may productively adopt a systems-level approach to conceptual organization and cultural epistemologies. Related implications for diversity in cognitive science are discussed.

The cultural side of science communication

The main proposition of this paper is that science communication necessarily involves and includes cultural orientations. There is a substantial body of work showing that cultural differences in values and epistemological frameworks are paralleled with cultural differences reflected in artifacts and public representations. One dimension of cultural difference is the psychological distance between humans and the rest of nature. Another is perspective taking and attention to context and relationships. As an example of distance, most (Western) images of ecosystems do not include human beings, and European American discourse tends to position human beings as being apart from nature. Native American discourse, in contrast, tends to describe humans beings as a part of nature. We trace the correspondences between cultural properties of media, focusing on children's books, and cultural differences in biological cognition. Finally, implications for both science communication and science education are outlined.

Do cavies talk? The effect of anthropomorphic picture books on children's knowledge about animals

Many books for young children present animals in fantastical and unrealistic ways, such as wearing clothes, talking and engaging in human-like activities. This research examined whether anthropomorphism in children's books affects children's learning and conceptions of animals, by specifically assessing the impact of depictions (a bird wearing clothes and reading a book) and language (bird described as talking and as having human intentions). In Study 1, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children saw picture books featuring realistic drawings of a novel animal. Half of the children also heard factual, realistic language, while the other half heard anthropomorphized language. In Study 2, we replicated the first study using anthropomorphic illustrations of real animals. The results show that the language used to describe animals in books has an effect on children's tendency to attribute human-like traits to animals, and that anthropomorphic storybooks affect younger children's learning of novel facts about animals. These results indicate that anthropomorphized animals in books may not only lead to less learning but also influence children's conceptual knowledge of animals.