The development of children's biological understanding

This article is a review of literature in developmental psychology concerne d with children's thinking about their own bodies. There is an emphasis on ways in which children explain things that they know about their bodies. Ve ry young children (younger than about 7 years of age) may have intuitive un derstanding of the distinction between the biological nature of the body an d ways in which the mind controls and influences the body, but they sometim es explain processes that adults think of as biological in psychological wa ys. Older children acquire knowledge of internal organs and processes in th e body, particularly ones concerned with the transformation of substances. However, they may understand these processes in ways different from that of a basic biological framework. The possibility that children have ideas abo ut 'vital energies or forces' is considered. Some implications for biology education are discussed.