Intuitive models are a pervasive and naturally developing type of knowledge representation, and are therefore of considerable interest to researchers who study cognitive development. Educators are also keenly interested in intuitive models because they are central to scientific reasoning and mathematical problem solving. Despite the importance of intuitive models, very little is known about how children construct new intuitive models. How children can construct a model that contains the appropriate new relationships is not well understood. Our current work in this area investigates the overarching hypothesis that children use specialized perceptual mechanisms to overcome the problems of knowledge acquisition inherent in constructing new intuitive models.
Humans have specialized perceptual systems that detect changes in particular properties.
For example, cutaneous cold and warm receptors are specialized for the perception of temperature. Because these perceptual systems provide salient and meaningful information, they may allow children to functionally avoid the logical problems of knowledge acquisition. Further, it is proposed that the models children develop for perceptually specified properties form a knowledge base of intuitive models that are then available for transfer to perceptually unspecified properties. This would allow children to avoid facing these problems for perceptually unspecified properties. This research will provide the groundwork for a theory of how children construct new intuitive models.