Ask Me Why, Don't Tell Me Why: Asking Children for Explanations Facilitates Relational Thinking

Autor/inn/en	Brockbank, Erik; Lombrozo, Tania; Gopnik, Alison; Walker, Caren M.
Titel	Ask Me Why, Don't Tell Me Why: Asking Children for Explanations Facilitates Relational Thinking
Quelle	In: Developmental Science, 26 (2023) 1, (10 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Brockbank, Erik) ORCID (Walker, Caren M.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1363-755X
DOI	10.1111/desc.13274
Schlagwörter	Young Children; Dialogs (Language); Abstract Reasoning; Relationship; Questioning Techniques; Thinking Skills + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Frühe Kindheit; Dialog; Dialogs; Dialogue; Dialogues; Abstraktes Denken; Denken; Wechselbeziehung; Befragungstechnik; Fragetechnik; Denkfähigkeit
Abstract	Identifying abstract relations is essential for commonsense reasoning. Research suggests that even young children can infer relations such as "same" and "different," but often fail to apply these concepts. Might the process of explaining facilitate the recognition and application of relational concepts? Based on prior work suggesting that explanation can be a powerful tool to promote abstract reasoning, we predicted that children would be more likely to discover and use an abstract relational rule when they were prompted to explain observations instantiating that rule, compared to when they received demonstration alone. Five- and 6-year-olds were given a modified Relational Match to Sample (RMTS) task, with repeated demonstrations of relational (same) matches by an adult. Half of the children were prompted to explain these matches; the other half reported the match they observed. Children who were prompted to explain showed immediate, stable success, while those only asked to report the outcome of the pedagogical demonstration did not. Findings provide evidence that explanation facilitates early abstraction over and above demonstration alone. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01