AN ABSTRACT TO CONCRETE SHIFT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF BIOLOGICAL THOUGHT - THE INSIDES STORY

For more than a century, theorists of cognitive development have embra ced some form of the thesis that cognitive development proceeds from c oncrete to abstract knowledge. In contrast to this view, we suggest an abstract to concrete shift in the development of biological thought. In five studies we examine children's expectations for what could be i nside animals and machines and we find that children of all ages respo nd systematically, revealing abstract expectations for how the insides of animals and machines should differ. By 8 years, children seem to h ave more concrete expectations for the nature of insides, and are subs tantially more accurate than preschoolers. More broadly, we suspect th at an abstract to concrete progression may capture important features of how knowledge develops in the realm of biological thought and in ma ny other areas of understanding as well.