Brain research: Scientific thinking starts early

Status: 11/29/2022 1:20 p.m

How do I test an observation or hypothesis? Children develop this cornerstone of scientific thinking at the age of six – and thus earlier than previously thought. What matters is whether parents support it.

Even six-year-olds show amazing skills in scientific thinking – this is the conclusion of the first Study showing scientific thinking in children from kindergarten to the end of elementary school. Susanne Körber, professor for early education at the Freiburg University of Education, and her colleague Christopher Osterhaus, junior professor for developmental psychology at the University of Vechta, have accompanied a good 150 children for five years and tested them again and again.

Above all, the research team asked how the children approach certain phenomena, says Körber: “We have recorded basic skills in scientific thinking. That’s a construct that consists of several different skills. And you could say that there is an understanding of which is what it means to test assumptions effectively.”

How to test scientific reasoning

In order to find out whether children already master the basics of scientific thinking, the research team tested kindergarten children and elementary school students with simple basic tasks for experimentation in individual interviews. For example, the following story was told, says Körber: “Tom wants to find out if his dog can jump high. He wants to lure him with a sausage. What does he have to do now to find out?”

As a rule, children as young as six understood that they had to test their guess. That means Tom has to hold up the sausage and not hold it in front of the dog. Another example asked how to find out whether plants should be watered with cold water or warm water to make them grow better.

In fact, elementary school children already knew that they should take the same type of plant and water it with cold water on one side and warm water on the other, and then see: where do the plants grow better? So they knew not to take different plant species to keep other traits constant.

The home is crucial

As early as kindergarten age, the study revealed large differences in the ability of children to think scientifically. The ability of children to think scientifically is related to the level of education of their parents. Apparently, higher educated parents communicate differently with their children.

That doesn’t mean that they talk much about science and scientific discoveries, nor that they go to experimental shows or museums more often. It’s about a certain attitude in everyday life, says Körber: “We discover an unusual phenomenon and make assumptions about what it could be. And how it might be tested. So: How can I find out whether my assumption, the I have, right?”

Disadvantages also remain stable in elementary school

Unfortunately, even later in elementary school, it is rarely possible to promote scientific thinking in all children. The study shows: The disadvantages of some children found in kindergarten persist in primary school, although many kindergartens and primary schools make an effort. For example, they carry out experiments suitable for kindergartens – such as the explosion of a baking powder volcano.

It is not only important, says Körber, that the experiment inspires enthusiasm, but “that the children make assumptions about why the volcano with the baking powder is now erupting. What led to this?”

What Parents and Schools Can Do

The researchers suggest that there should be more practice in elementary school on how to put different opinions or hypotheses to the test. And last but not least, children should also learn to adopt different perspectives. Because that is also an important basis for scientific thinking.

Incidentally, the study did not find any gender differences. Girls and boys are equally interested in science and able to think scientifically.

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