생물현상에 대한 지식의 발달 : 질병에 대한 이해를 중심으로 = Understanding of illness by children from 3 to 11 years of age

국문 초록 (Abstract)

질병에 대한 이해가 학령전기와 초등학교시기에 걸쳐 어떻게 변화하고 발달하는지 연구하였다. 학교에 입학하는 7세를 전후로 한 3, 5, 7, 9, 11세의 다섯 연령집단 아동들이 감기(전염성)와 배탈(비전염성)이라는 두 종류의 질병에 걸리게 되는 원인과 발병기제를 얼마나 잘 알고 있는지, 그리고 신체면역력과 내재적 정의가 질병의 발생과 어떤 관계가 있다고 생각하는지 알아보았다. 연구의 결과는 질병에 대한 지식이 연령에 따라 증가한다는 것을 보여주었다. 그러나 지식의 종류에 따라 발달양상은 조금씩 달랐는데, 배탈에 대한 지식이 가장 완만한 발달곡선을 보였고, 질병의 발생이 도덕적 요인과는 무관하다는 지식이 가장 급격하게 발달하였다. 연구의 결과는 또 대략 7세를 기점으로 하여 병에 걸리는 이유를 병균의 작용으로 설명하는 병균이론이 나타나기 시작한다는 것을 보여주었다. 즉 3, 5세에는 병균에 대한 언급을 한다 해도 병균을 질병의 인과기제로서 이해하지는 못하는 수준이지만, 7세부터는 병균의 작용에 대한 이해가 조금씩 나타나기 시작하여 9, 11세에 이르러서는 절반가량이 병균과 질병간의 인과관계와 병균의 작용을 이해하는 것으로 나타났다. 그러나 Carey의 주장과는 달리, 어린 아동들도 병에 걸리는 것을 사회도덕적 원인으로 설명하는 경우는 많지 않았다.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The present study was to investigate how children's understanding of illness causality changes with age. Three-, 5-, 7-, 9-, & 11-year-olds(16 at each age) were tested with a series of questions, which aimed at examining children's understanding of the causes of colds and stomachaches, the importance of physical fitness in susceptibility to illness, and the role of immanent justice in getting sick. The results showed that children's understanding about illness increased with age. Nevertheless, knowledge concerning stomachaches increased relatively slowly with age, whereas a belief in social causes expressed in the form of immanent justice changed rather dramatically with age into a belief in biological causes. The results also showed an increase with age in biological understanding of germs as causes of illness. Not many of 3- and 5-year-olds(<5%) explained illness in terms of germs as causes of illness, while 16% of 7-year-olds revealed understanding of germs as causes of illness and about 50% of 9- and 11-year-olds were quite capable of explaining the role of germs in getting sick. However, as opposed to Carey's claim that children before age 10 tend to interpret illness as a punishment for naughtiness, less than 30% of 3- and 5-year-olds considered immanent justice as a cause of getting ill.

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