Young Children's Selective Learning in Physics: Can Mothers' Testimony Revise Children's Naïve Physical Beliefs?

The present study examined 3- to 5-year-old children's (N=90) selective learning from their mother or a stranger when the mother's testimonies (scientific beliefs) conflicted with the stranger's testimonies (which were consistent with the children's naïve physical beliefs). Three object motion tasks were used: gravitational motion, horizontal projectile motion, and free-falling motion.Ninety children were recruited from a university-affiliated kindergarten in Beijing, China, including 29 3-year-olds (Mage= 45 months, SD = 1.99, range = 41-48 months, 15 males and 14 females), 31 4-year-olds (Mage = 52 months, SD = 3.21, range = 48-59 months, 15 males and 16 females), and 30 5-year-olds (Mage = 64 months, SD = 3.39, range = 60-71 months, 15 males and 15 females).