Cross-cultural variation in the development of folk ecological reasoning

Two studies examined children's reasoning about biological kinds in populations that vary in formal education and direct experience with the natural world, a Western (urban U.S.) and a Non-Western population (Tanna, Vanuatu). Study 1 examined children's concepts of ecological relatedness between species (N = 97, 5-13-year-olds). U.S. children provided more taxonomic explanations than Ni-Vanuatu children, who provided more ecological, physiological, and utility explanations than U.S. children. Ecological explanations were most common overall and more common among older than younger children across cultures. In Study 2, children (N = 106, 6-11-year-olds) sorted pictures of natural kinds into groups. U.S. children were more likely than Ni-Vanuatu children to categorize a human as an animal and the tendency to group a human with other animals increased with age in the U.S. Despite substantial differences in cultural, educational, and ecological input, children in both populations privileged ecological reasoning. In contrast, taxonomic reasoning was more variable between populations, which may reflect differences in experience with formal education.