The arousal of “Hot cognition” in science explanation and judgement

Author: Chih-Hsiung Ku – National Dong Hwa University, Taiwan

Co-author: Dong-Chi Sun

The concept of rationality in science has been an important issue in the domain of science philosophy, and has been a focus in science education research also. The purpose of this study was to explore the arousal of hot cognition on children’s judgment of scientific explanations under the intervention of social norms. The self-designed instruments “Rationality of scientific explanation test”, “Self-perception test” and “Group discussion worksheet” were utilized to investigate the effect of arousal of hot cognition on children’s judgment of scientific explanations. The main finding revealed that the extent to which hot cognition was aroused and affected children’s judgment of scientific explanations was influenced by class social norms. After the small group discussion, most subjects make sense their behavior with hot cognition on judgment. Analysis of children’s self-perception regarding their judgment of the rationality of scientific explanations revealed that the majority of subjects believed that they were less influenced by social norms than their peers.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Visual talk
Theme: Society
Area of interest: Teaching science communication