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Parental reports of children’s biological knowledge and misconceptions

Children’s misconceptions about five specific biological concepts—life, aging, reproduction, illness, and death—were investigated using a parent survey. Parents of 3- to 4-year-olds (N 1/4 125) and parents of 5- to 6-year-olds (N 1/4 145) completed a questionnaire about their child’s knowledge and misconceptions involving these concepts. Parents reported that misconceptions were common among 3- to 6-year-olds, particularly for reproduction and death. Parents reported a greater reluctance to talk with their children about death and reproduction and also thought their children should learn about these concepts at a later age than other biological concepts. One third of the misconceptions reported by parents occurred at the boundary between different domains, where information from another domain (i.e., physics or psychology) was incorrectly associated with the biological domain. Parents of 5- to 6-year-olds reported fewer misconceptions than parents of 3- to 4-year-olds, suggesting that these misconceptions are open to change and are eventually replaced by accurate biological knowledge.