Children’s Understanding of the Shape of the World

This book analyses the development of children’s cosmological knowledge in the context of general theories of cognitive development. Examining children’s understanding of the earth, based on naive mental models or counter-intuitive scientific facts, offers a unique insight into the development of scientific knowledge as innate or culturally acquired.

After reviewing the revolutionary changes that have occurred over the years in our understanding of the cosmos, this book explores the complex networks of beliefs that provide the background to cognitive development and the learning of science. Based on infant studies of naive physics, the book examines the ways in which our cognitive system and cultural context interact. It goes on to explore the problems of learning science from a constructivist perspective and the role of mental models in physical reasoning. Finally, the author outlines the nature of the relationship between cognitive development and conceptual change which has implications for education and the learning of science.

Children’s Cosmologies offers a new scholarly perspective to those in the fields of developmental psychology and education. It is ideal reading for researchers and upper level students of psychology, philosophy and the history of science.