EMERGING DIFFERENTIATION OF FOLKBIOLOGY AND FOLKPSYCHOLOGY - ATTRIBUTIONS OF BIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES TO LIVING THINGS

Research suggests that for adults, ''folkpsychology'' and ''folkbiolog y'' represent distinct conceptual domains for reasoning about living t hings. However, it is not clear whether these domains are distinct for children; past work suggests that the 2 systems are confused until ag e 10, and that radical theory change accounts for eventual differentia tion. To examine this claim, 16 subjects each at ages 6, 8, and adult were shown pictures of predatory and domestic animals and asked whethe r each animal displayed a variety of biological properties (e.g., has blood) and psychological properties (e.g., can think, can feel angry). Subjects at all ages showed clearly different attribution patterns fo r biological versus psychological properties. This dissociation of att ribution patterns provides evidence that by kindergarten, notions of f olkpsychology and folkbiology are sufficiently differentiated to const itute distinct and independent conceptual domains. This in turn sugges ts that radical theory change regarding living things either occurs pr ior to the beginning of formal education, or does not explain the deve lopment of folkbiological knowledge.