Abstract
The present study examined children's and adults’ explanations about the relations between various factors (contagion, imbalanced diet, lack of sleep, mental depression, cold weather, and immanent justice) and the onset of illness. Six-, 9-, 11-year-old children and adults very frequently judged that contagion and cold weather would make an individual contract a cold. They also tended to judge that lifestyle habits such as nutrition and sleep are causal factors. When asked why these factors led to illness, children and adults frequently referred to “germs” and “resistance” factors. In resistance explanations, given factors were assumed to cause illness by weakening an individual's resistant power, which was expressed as vital force, power, energy, physical strength, immune system, or stress. Coexistence of “germ” and “resistance” explanations were more evident among adults than children, and among adults with a higher education level.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-13 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Cognitive Development |
| Volume | 51 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 Jul 1 |
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Keywords
- Causal explanations
- Illness awareness
- Knowledge acquisition
- Naïve biology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
Cite this
Development of integrated explanations for illness. / Toyama, Noriko.
In: Cognitive Development, Vol. 51, 01.07.2019, p. 1-13.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of integrated explanations for illness
AU - Toyama, Noriko
PY - 2019/7/1
Y1 - 2019/7/1
N2 - The present study examined children's and adults’ explanations about the relations between various factors (contagion, imbalanced diet, lack of sleep, mental depression, cold weather, and immanent justice) and the onset of illness. Six-, 9-, 11-year-old children and adults very frequently judged that contagion and cold weather would make an individual contract a cold. They also tended to judge that lifestyle habits such as nutrition and sleep are causal factors. When asked why these factors led to illness, children and adults frequently referred to “germs” and “resistance” factors. In resistance explanations, given factors were assumed to cause illness by weakening an individual's resistant power, which was expressed as vital force, power, energy, physical strength, immune system, or stress. Coexistence of “germ” and “resistance” explanations were more evident among adults than children, and among adults with a higher education level.
AB - The present study examined children's and adults’ explanations about the relations between various factors (contagion, imbalanced diet, lack of sleep, mental depression, cold weather, and immanent justice) and the onset of illness. Six-, 9-, 11-year-old children and adults very frequently judged that contagion and cold weather would make an individual contract a cold. They also tended to judge that lifestyle habits such as nutrition and sleep are causal factors. When asked why these factors led to illness, children and adults frequently referred to “germs” and “resistance” factors. In resistance explanations, given factors were assumed to cause illness by weakening an individual's resistant power, which was expressed as vital force, power, energy, physical strength, immune system, or stress. Coexistence of “germ” and “resistance” explanations were more evident among adults than children, and among adults with a higher education level.
KW - Causal explanations
KW - Illness awareness
KW - Knowledge acquisition
KW - Naïve biology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066137596&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85066137596&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cogdev.2019.05.003
DO - 10.1016/j.cogdev.2019.05.003
M3 - Article
VL - 51
SP - 1
EP - 13
JO - Cognitive Development
JF - Cognitive Development
SN - 0885-2014
ER -