Can a Preschooler’s Mistaken Belief Benefit Learning?

Abstract

Young children erroneously believe that differences either in mass alone or in volume alone can predict differences in sinking speed. The current study was an attempt to teach preschool children that neither mass nor volume alone is predictive for sinking speed. Instead, it is the average density of an object that can predict differences in sinking speed. Twenty-four 4-to 6-year-olds participated. In an initial phase, children’s mistaken beliefs about the effects of mass and volume on sinking speed were called to their minds. Then they were presented with demonstrations of sinking objects that disconfirmed these mistaken beliefs. The findings show that preschool children can replace mistaken beliefs and learn that two dimensions, originally thought of as being relevant, are indeed irrelevant. Children who did not perform correctly demonstrated a mass bias. The results also shed light on the origins of this bias.

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