Evolutionary Educational Psychology A summary of David Geary’s Principles of evolutionary educational psychology This is just a summary of the bits that I thought were most interesting. It’s a brilliant paper with a lot to think about.

Principles of Educational Evolutionary Psychology Secondary knowledge has grown out of folk knowledge. There is a gap between secondary knowledge and folk knowledge Schools exist to bridge that gap Children are innately motivated towards developing their folk knowledge The way children acquire folk knowledge is insufficient for the way they acquire secondary knowledge

Folk knowledge Secondary knowledge Biblical morals, communication with and influencing others’ behaviours Roman numerals – formal counting system 20C Quantum mechanics Newtonian mechanics 200,000BC Bedrock of folk psychology, biology and physics. Non-formal number counting. Aristotle and others: classification of animals + plants, physics, four elements Arabic numerals, algebra Atomic theory Linnaeus’ taxonomy Alchemy Euclidean geometry “Today, there is an ever-widening gap between folk knowledge and scientific and technological advances and an accompanying need to acquire novel academic competencies”

Cooptation: the adaptation (typically through instruction) of evolved cognitive systems for culturally specific uses i.e. when a primary system e.g. folk psychology, is utilised to produce a secondary system

Communication, language, social relationships, theory of mind Folk Psychology Communication, language, social relationships, theory of mind Reading, writing, stories, poems, dramas reflecting nuances of social relationships Cooptation Primary Secondary

Systematic taxonomies. Anatomy. Behavioural ecology. Folk Biology Classification of animals and plants. Living things have “innards”. Offspring will have the same “essence” as their parents. Systematic taxonomies. Anatomy. Behavioural ecology. Cooptation Secondary Primary

Motion, trajectories, behaviour of simple objects Folk Physics Motion, trajectories, behaviour of simple objects Newtonian mechanics, engineering, quantum mechanics Cooptation Secondary Primary

Inferential biases/misconceptions examples Folk biology: classification focusses on differences between species. Short-term time-frame. Helps predict behaviour of plants and animals. Study of natural selection: focusses on differences within species. Time-frame of many thousands of years. Helps understand processes of speciation. Folk Physics: Impetus - an object in flight has a force acting on it. Reasonable explanation for everyday situations Newton’s three laws, predict movements of complex bodies.

Widened gap “As with biology, the knowledge base of the physical sciences is exponentially larger than the knowledge base of folk physics and in some cases (e.g., quantum mechanics) the accompanying conceptual models bear little resemblance to the naïve concepts of folk physics.”

Motivation “Children are innately curious about and motivated to actively engage and explore social relationships and the environment – biases that are directed toward information and activities associated with folk knowledge.”

“A burning desire to master algebra or Newtonian physics will not be universal, or even common.” Those who do dedicate their lives to a specific area have individual differences related to: Ability to acquire secondary competencies Intellectual curiosity Willingness to engage in long and tedious training Degree to which the underlying folk systems are elaborated

For most people, motivation to study secondary areas will be more related to the primary area which underlies it. E.g. reading is secondary but many people will read stories for pleasure as they relate to primary areas. Children’s natural curiosities and interests will be unlikely to lead them to secondary knowledge.

The need for instruction – primary/secondary gap Prehistory Modern era

Need for instruction Primary/Secondary Gap Size

John Sweller, Instructional Implications of David C John Sweller, Instructional Implications of David C. Geary’s Evolutionary Educational Psychology

Biologically primary Biologically seconday Knowledge is acquired “easily and unconsciously” Conscious effort Intrinsic motivation Extrinsic motivation Limited instruction required Explicit instruction required Long term memory important in knowledge acquisition Working memory limitations are limited Strong working memory limitations Problem solving does not seem to apply Problem solving/generate and test model essential