Children's Belief in Counterintuitive and Counterperceptual Messages

Abstract

AbstractChildren's cognition is shaped, in part, by the messages provided by parents, educators, and peers. Some of these messages defy children's own knowledge or perceptions—these claims may be confronted regularly in science classes and museums (e.g., when learning about invisible gases or species categorization) and in religious settings (e.g., when learning about all‐powerful deities, souls, or qi). How are children's beliefs influenced by these countermessages? Using a constructivist framework, I review research to chart a developmental account for how children adjust their beliefs in response to counterintuitive and counterperceptual messages. I focus on how and why children's receptivity to such claims shifts across development, and I discuss cognitive and contextual factors that influence these developments.