Work

Do reflection prompts promote children's conflict monitoring and revision of misconceptions?

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: We tested whether reflection prompts enhance conflict monitoring and facilitate the revision of misconceptions. German children (N = 97, Mage = 7.20, 56% female) were assigned to a prediction or a prediction with reflection condition that included reflection prompts. Children in the prediction with reflection condition (1) showed greater error-related response times and pupil dilation responses, indicating better conflict monitoring, and (2) performed closer to an optimal Bayesian learner, indicating better monitoring-based control. However, by the end of the study, all children had similar levels of misconception revision. Thus, reflection prompts can enhance learning from anomalous evidence by improving conflict monitoring, but they may need to be repeated often to sustain their beneficial effects.

Source: Child Development

DOI: 10.1111/cdev.14081

Authors: Maria Theobald, Joseph Colantonio, Igor Bascandziev, Elizabeth Bonawitz, Garvin Brod

Institutions: Individual Development and Adaptive Education, DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Harvard University, Goethe University Frankfurt

Language: English

Topic: Science Education and Pedagogy

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,070