Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Primeros Pasos

IDB

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Early Education
    • Family and Children
    • Maternity
    • Measurement and Indicator
    • Nutrition and Lactation
    • Policies and Programs
    • Seminars and Courses
  • Authors
  • English
    • Spanish
    • Portuguese

Little Scientists

May 13, 2013 por Autor invitado Leave a Comment


By Samuel Berlinski

Little Scientist

It is undisputed that children, from birth to the start of formal schooling, need to be stimulated in order to develop their motor, socio-emotional and cognitive skills. But how should preschool-age children be cognitively stimulated? And at the same time, how structured should that experience be?

An experiment conducted by Bonawitz and her colleagues in 2011 is a clear example of the tension that can exist between teaching and spontaneous discovery at preschool age. Eighty-five children with an average age of 5 participated in this experiment at a science museum in the United States. The researchers used a toy that they designed, which consisted of a series of colored plastic pipes attached to a base. However, the toy had four special features that were not obvious. The toy squeaked when a yellow-colored tube was pulled out from inside another, and there was more to discover; by pressing different buttons, lights and music were activated, and it also had hidden mirrors.

The children were randomly assigned to one of four situations. In all of them, the experimenter brought the toy out from under a table, and then the child was presented with one of the following four learning conditions:

  1. Pedagogical situation: The experimenter said, “Look at my toy! This is my toy. I’m going to show you how my toy works. Watch this!” The experimenter then pulled the yellow tube out to produce the squeak sound. She said, “Wow, see that? This is how my toy works!”
  2. Interrupted situation: The first part of the script was the same as in the pedagogical condition, but the experimenter left before saying, “Wow, see that? This is how my toy works!” with the excuse that she had forgotten something.
  3. Naïve situation: The experimenter said, “I just found this toy! See this toy?” Then, as if by accident, she pulled out the yellow tube and the toy made a noise. She said, “Huh, did you see that? Let me try that again.”
  4. Baseline situation: The experimenter simply said, “Wow, see this toy? Look at this!” Then she left it on the table without having pulled out the yellow tube.

In all four situations, the experimenter finished by saying, “Wow, isn’t that cool? I’m going to let you play and see if you can figure out how this toy works. Let me know when you’re done,” and she left the child to play.

The results of the experiment were as follows: the children who participated in the pedagogical situation played with the toy for less time and explored the toy less than children in the other three situations. At the same time, these children spent more time playing with the yellow tube than with the other features of the toy and, therefore, found fewer actions than the other children.

This experiment is part of the relatively recent literature on learning at preschool age (see Gopnik’s review of the literature from 2012), which indicates that children learn as if they were little scientists, through information they gain by watching and listening to others and through individual exploration that allows them to test their hypotheses against data. In a structured learning environment, where children receive information from a person who “knows,” the set of hypotheses that they explore is limited to the information provided by the teacher. In contrast, when the children’s learning space is unrestricted by the suggestions of the teacher, they explore more freely to evaluate their hypotheses.

What educational policy implications do these results have? First, in my opinion, we haven’t yet identified which is the best place—whether at home or at school—for cognitive stimulation of preschool-age children. What is obvious, however, is that the best place is the one that provides better stimulation. But what is the best stimulation? Children have a lot to learn and, therefore, an exclusive context of play without structured learning parameters can invite exploration. Nonetheless, if an adult does not fulfill the role of facilitator as children explore, this environment may not favor children who have difficulty discovering on their own, which could cause delays at the start of formal schooling. On the other hand, a very structured, academic context can restrict experimentation and the development of exploration skills in children.

What does this mean for teaching preschool-age children in Latin America?  The balance between exploration and structure seems delicate and difficult to achieve in highly heterogeneous contexts where, in many cases, those who teach (both at home and at school) do not have sufficient education, skill and/or experience. I think the most attractive alternative is to invest in the creation of educational materials accompanied by simple guidelines for their implementation. This requires many hours of work, experimentation and professional development, which, if supported by a single government, would be difficult to achieve on the scale necessary to reach the children who need it most. However, relatively low-cost multinational initiatives (supported by multilateral organizations such as the IDB) could help improve the learning of children in the region.

Samuel Berlinski is Lead Economist in the IDB’s Research Department. He has published numerous articles, particularly on labor and educational issues.


Filed Under: Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

Search

Early Childhood Development

The first years of life are essential to establish the future foundation of a person´s productivity and wellbeing. In this blog, experts from the IDB and thought leaders in the topic, share information and international experiences related to early childhood development. Join us to talk about initiatives implemented in your country in this area

Similar Posts

  • World Autism Day, To be Inclusive or Exclusive?
  • How Come Manolo Doesn’t Go to Preschool?
  • Your Smartphone Addiction Could Be Harming Your Child’s Future
  • No One Is Born Knowing How to Parent…But It Can Be Learned!
  • Nicaragua’s chicks

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

    Blog posts written by Bank employees:

    Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


    For blogs written by external parties:

    For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

    The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

    Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



    Privacy Policy

    Derechos de autor © 2025 · Magazine Pro en Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

    Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

    Aviso Legal

    Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

    facebook
    twitter
    youtube
    This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
    To learn more about cookies, click here
    X
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT