ArticleEducational psychology review2022
Children's Evolved Learning Abilities and Their Implications for Education.
Article in Educational psychology review, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Development and validation of the CAPPAC scale to measure multidimensional play in children and adolescents.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Beyond Cognitive Load Theory: Why Learning Needs More than Memory Management.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Characteristics of intellectual development in children diagnosed with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Design and evaluation of children's education interactive learning system based on human computer interaction technology.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Stakeholders' Roles in Evolutionizing Education: An Evolutionary-Based Toolkit Surrounding Elementary Education.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The role of exploration and exploitation in primate communication.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Single-cell synaptome mapping: its technical basis and applications in critical period plasticity research.Frontiers in neural circuits · 2024Review
- Efficiency of an Alternative Physical Education Program for the Lower Grades of Elementary School Children.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In this article, I examine children's evolved learning mechanisms that make humans the most educable of animals. These include (1) skeletal perceptual and cognitive mechanisms that get fleshed out over the course of development, mainly through play; (2) a high level of plasticity that is greatest early in life but that persists into adulthood; (3) remarkable social-learning capabilities; and (4) dispositions toward exploration and play. I next examine some evolutionary mismatches-conflicts between psychological mechanisms evolved in ancient environments and their utility in modern ones-specifically with respect to modern educational systems. I then suggest some ways educators can take advantage of children's evolved learning abilities to minimize the effects of evolutionary mismatches, including (1) following developmentally appropriate practices (which are also evolutionarily appropriate practices), (2) increasing opportunities for physical activities, (3) increasing opportunities to learn through play, and (4) taking advantage of stress-adapted children's "hidden talents." I argue that evolutionary theory informs teachers and parents about how children evolved to learn and can result in more-enlightened teaching methods that will result in a more enjoyable and successful learning experiences for children.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.