Children's ability to query others is remarkable because it attests to their coordination of a
range of complex cognitive capacities and because it allows them to initiate and redirect …

Common-sense intuitions can be useful guides in everyday life and problem solving.
However, they can also impede formal science learning and provide the basis for robust …

Humans are avid explainers: We ask “why?” and derive satisfaction from a good answer. But
humans are also selective explainers: Only some observations prompt us to ask “why?” and …

Children rely on others' explanations to learn scientific concepts, yet sometimes the
explanations they receive are incomplete. Three studies explore how receiving incomplete …

The ability to assess the value of the information one receives and the intentions of the
source of that information can be used to establish cooperative relationships and to identify …

Although early causal reasoning has been studied extensively, inconsistency in the tasks
used to assess it has clouded our understanding of its structure, development, and …

When someone encounters an explanation perceived as weak, this may lead to a feeling of
deprivation or tension that can be resolved by engaging in additional learning. This study …

In the current study, we provide a systematic understanding of how early childhood
educators (N= 209) believe that they would respond to children's scientific questions. We …

Causal explanations are central to cognitive development. Once considered beyond the
grasp of young children, causal reasoning is now understood to be present in infants, driving …

Learning interest affects the way of learning and its process, which is an important factor that
affects the learning effect. At present, students' learning interest in a teaching environment is …