Observations on the way families interact during a museum visit

Abstract

A lot of research has identified the needs and interests of various groups visiting museums, zoos and exhibitions. Usually, though, visitor groups are classified in terms of whether they are day-trip visitors, coach parties, specialist interest groups, and so on. Very little research has been aimed specifically at the family group. Yet, according to several researchers, child-adult groups spend more time together at the zoo or museum than any other kind of group (Lakota, 1975; Rosenfeld, 1980). One piece of research which has looked at the behaviour of family groups within a museum is Cone and Kendall’s (1978) study at the Anthropology Hall in the Science Museum of Minnesota. Observations were made of family behaviour in front of those four exhibits determined by earlier research to be the most popular. The most interesting finding to emerge from this study was the considerable gender and generation-role differentiation which was observed. Mothers appeared to be adopting the main teaching role, and they addressed almost all their interactions to children, with their attention divided fairly equally between sons and daughters. Fathers engaged in much less verbal behaviour altogether, and most of this was directed at sons. Daughters were the least likely to engage in verbal interaction and rarely addressed fathers, although sons directed verbal behaviour equally to both parents. The suggestion that girls are ignored by their fathers, and are generally more passive than boys, raises several questions. Cone and Kendall wondered whether this affected their experience of the museum compared to that of their brothers. Do they learn less as a result, and to what extent should museum designers be concerned with family interaction? The research reported in this paper looks at family behaviour in the Science Museum in London. The research was primarily interested in examining the quality of interactions occurring between adults and children in a museum, and whether different kinds of exhibit stimulate different kinds of discussion. The aim was to explore a theory of children’s cognitive development: the socio-cognitive conflict hypothesis, developed by Doise (1978), which suggests that a child’s ability to understand new concepts and solve problems can be helped by social interaction. Doise has produced a lot of laboratory evidence to support his hypothesis, but very little research has been done in natural surroundings. His hypothesis is based on Piaget’s model of cognitive development which asserts that interaction between the child and the physical environment leads to learning. Through exploration and manipulation of the physical environment, the child is made aware of the contradictions between what she or he already knows about the world, and new information which is taken in, and this results in cognitive conflict. The resolution of these cognitive contradictions, or conflicts, is learning.