Chen Z, Klahr D
Department of Human and Community Development, University of California, Davis 95616, USA.
Child Dev. 1999 Sep-Oct;70(5):1098-120. doi: 10.1111/1467-8624.00081.
The ability to design unconfounded experiments and make valid inferences from their outcomes is an essential skill in scientific reasoning. The present study addressed an important issue in scientific reasoning and cognitive development: how children acquire a domain-general processing strategy (Control of Variables Strategy or CVS) and generalize it across various contexts. Seven- to 10-year-olds (N = 87) designed and evaluated experiments and made inferences from the experimental outcomes. When provided with explicit training within domains, combined with probe questions, children were able to learn and transfer the basic strategy for designing unconfounded experiments. Providing probes without direct instruction, however, did not improve children's ability to design unconfounded experiments and make valid inferences. Direct instruction on CVS not only improved the use of CVS, but also facilitated conceptual change in the domain because the application of CVS led to unconfounded, informative tests of domain-specific concepts. With age, children increasingly improved their ability to transfer learned strategies to remote situations. A trial-by-trial assessment of children's strategy use also allowed the examination of the source, rate, path, and breadth of strategy change.
设计无混淆实验并从实验结果中做出有效推断的能力是科学推理中的一项基本技能。本研究探讨了科学推理和认知发展中的一个重要问题：儿童如何获得一种领域通用的处理策略（变量控制策略或CVS）并将其推广到各种情境中。7至10岁的儿童（N = 87）设计并评估实验，并从实验结果中进行推断。当在各领域内提供明确的训练并结合探测性问题时，儿童能够学习并迁移设计无混淆实验的基本策略。然而，在没有直接指导的情况下提供探测性问题，并不能提高儿童设计无混淆实验和做出有效推断的能力。对CVS的直接指导不仅提高了CVS的使用，还促进了该领域的概念转变，因为CVS的应用导致了对特定领域概念的无混淆、信息丰富的测试。随着年龄的增长，儿童将所学策略迁移到遥远情境的能力不断提高。对儿童策略使用的逐次试验评估也有助于考察策略变化的来源、速度、路径和广度。
