PMID: 8605825Feb 1, 1996Paper

Like father, like son: young children's understanding of how and why offspring resemble their parents

Child Development
G E SolomonS Carey

Abstract

4 studies investigated the broad claim that preschoolers understand biological inheritance. In Study 1, 4-7-year-old children were told a story in which a boy was born to one man and adopted by another. The biological father was described as having one set of features (e.g., green eyes) and the adoptive father as having another (e.g., brown eyes). Subjects were asked which man the boy would resemble when he grew up. Preschoolers showed little understanding that selective chains of processes mediate resemblance to parents. It was not until age 7 that children substantially associated the boy with his biological father on physical features and his adoptive father on beliefs. That is, it was not until age 7 that children demonstrated that they understood birth as part of a process selectively mediating the acquisition of physical traits and learning or nurturance as mediating the acquisition of beliefs. In Study 2, subjects were asked whether, as a boy grew up, various of his features could change. Children generally shared our adult intuitions, indicating that their failure in Study 1 was not due to their having a different sense of what features can change. Studies 3 and 4 replicated Study 1, with stories involving mothers inste...Continue Reading

References

Mar 1, 1991·Cognition·S A Gelman, H M Wellman
Jan 1, 1983·Cognitive Psychology·J H FlavellF L Green

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Citations

Sep 20, 2011·Animal Cognition·Gwenaël KaminskiKarine Mazens
Nov 4, 2000·Cognition·A Matan, S Carey
Jun 5, 2002·Cognition·Charles W Kalish
Dec 1, 1996·Journal of Medical Genetics·M Richards, M Ponder
Feb 7, 2001·Annual Review of Psychology·D L MedinK O Solomon
Sep 6, 2012·CBE Life Sciences Education·John D Coley, Kimberly D Tanner
Jul 27, 1999·Journal of Experimental Child Psychology·M D Weissman, C W Kalish
Dec 3, 2014·Journal of Experimental Child Psychology·Megan S GeerdtsVanessa LoBue
Nov 24, 1999·Trends in Cognitive Sciences·D Kelemen
Oct 28, 2008·Cognition·Patrick ShaftoJoshua B Tenenbaum
May 27, 2009·Journal of Pediatric Nursing·Martha Driessnack
Nov 11, 2006·Cognition·Susan A Gelman, Paul Bloom
Jun 14, 2005·Child: Care, Health and Development·L A Smith, J M Williams
May 12, 2006·Child Development·Paul L Harris, Melissa A Koenig
Sep 21, 2010·The British Journal of Developmental Psychology·Joanne M Williams, Lesley A Smith
May 4, 2012·The British Journal of Developmental Psychology·Joanne M Williams
May 16, 2012·Topics in Cognitive Science·Rita Astuti, Maurice Bloch
Nov 28, 2012·Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines·Susan GolombokVasanti Jadva
Sep 30, 2014·The British Journal of Developmental Psychology·Georgia PanagiotakiHerjit Aubby
Oct 25, 2016·Developmental Science·Julian Jara-EttingerSteve Piantadosi
Jan 24, 2017·Child Development·Susan GolombokAnke Ehrhardt
May 10, 2017·Cognitive Science·Melanie Arenson, John D Coley

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