‘When Animals Wear Pants’: Anthropomorphism and children’s learning
Anthropomorphism may contribute to a human-centered perspective on the natural world and encourage the belief that real animals possess human-specific traits. Research show that the use of fables and fairy tales, where animals exhibit human-like qualities, will interfere with children’s learning about real animals. Should we continue to employ anthropomorphism as a means to engage children in factual and biological learning about the natural world?
BOBY HO-HONG CHING: Have you ever assigned personalities to your pets and explained their behaviors in terms of human motivations, such as imagining that a cat is being stubborn? The attribution of human characteristics, behaviors, or emotions to nonhuman entities is called anthropomorphism. It often appears in various forms of media, such as talking animals in children’s literature or animated movies, fables and fairy tales where animals exhibit human-like qualities and engage in moral dilemmas (e.g., “The Tortoise and the Hare”).
Does this practice of unrealistic portrayal affect young children’s early understanding of biology and psychology in relation to the natural world? Anthropomorphism may contribute to a human-centered perspective on the natural world and encourage the belief that real animals possess human-specific traits, and it will interfere with children’s learning about real animals. Should we continue to employ anthropomorphism as a means to engage children in factual and biological learning about the natural world?
Early experiences and social learning can shape anthropocentric reasoning patterns. It has been observed that 3-year-old urban children do not display anthropocentric reasoning, suggesting that anthropocentrism is not an inherent, early-developing foundation for biological knowledge. Instead, it appears to be acquired uniquely by urban children due to their limited experiences with animals.
Children who grow up in cultures that offer more opportunities for early exposure to nature and animals tend to exhibit less anthropocentric reasoning compared to urban children. Even within a single culture, the level of direct exposure to animals can vary among children, leading to differences in anthropocentric reasoning. Even 3-year-old children who have pets are less likely to exhibit anthropocentric reasoning compared to their peers without pets when presented with an induction task, presumably because they have more opportunities to observe and learn about real animals…
Storybooks are important educational tools during early development, as even infants as young as 15 months old can learn words and acquire general knowledge from them… Does the anthropomorphism in storybooks influence children’s understanding of the natural world? Some studies suggest that anthropomorphism can influence children’s reasoning in both anthropocentric (human-centered) and anthropomorphic (attributing human traits) ways…
The impact of anthropomorphism on reasoning and learning can vary depending on the age of the child… younger children may be more prone to adopting anthropomorphic thinking when presented with anthropomorphic materials… High school students typically use anthropomorphic and animistic explanations for scientific phenomena (e.g., “fluorine’s being greedy trying to grab two electrons”), they recognize that their use of anthropomorphic descriptions is metaphorical rather than literal… Therefore, anthropomorphism may be beneficial for supporting the learning of older children and high school students…
Whether anthropomorphism is appropriate for engaging children in early science learning is an important question not just for developmental psychologists but also for educators, parents, and creators of children’s media. Determining the efficacy of anthropomorphism in supporting children’s factual and biological learning goes hand in hand with considering the cultural context and learning goals, the type and degree of social representation of animals being used, and the age of the child. SOURCE…
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