A Scoping Review of Different Ways of Thinking in Children

Despite the growing interest in differences in thinking, much less is known about differences in how children think and how they come to think. The aim of this scoping review is to map out the key concepts underpinning the conceptual boundaries of children’s (5–12 years of age) individual difference...

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Main Authors: Elisa Jones Arango, Shane Costello, Christine Grové
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-12-01
Series:Behavioral Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/8/12/115
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spelling doaj-2764f5fe44554bfaa255f61c5c1af51e2020-11-24T23:24:15ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2018-12-0181211510.3390/bs8120115bs8120115A Scoping Review of Different Ways of Thinking in ChildrenElisa Jones Arango0Shane Costello1Christine Grové2Faculty of Education, Monash University, 19 Ancora ImparoWay, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaFaculty of Education, Monash University, 19 Ancora ImparoWay, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaFaculty of Education, Monash University, 19 Ancora ImparoWay, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaDespite the growing interest in differences in thinking, much less is known about differences in how children think and how they come to think. The aim of this scoping review is to map out the key concepts underpinning the conceptual boundaries of children’s (5–12 years of age) individual differences in thinking. The scoping review identified eight papers for analysis; all of which were set in an educational context. The findings presented inconclusive results regarding learning and thinking differences related to students’ academic achievement. This review has identified two main drawbacks with this research area. Firstly, there is little consensus between the models employed to understand the different ways children think. To further place these findings into context we look at conceptualisations of individual differences, where individuality is considered a process of stable characteristics interacting with more dynamic structures. This analysis highlights the second drawback, previous research has solely focused on exploring thinking characteristics that are not stable and are therefore subject to change depending on the context. The review found that there is little to no research which explores thinking preferences in children that are consistent across contexts and time. Moreover, there was no research identified that explored the impact of differences in thinking outside the educational domain, such as children’s wellbeing. Further research is required to identify the more stable characteristics that reflect and capture children’s different ways of thinking.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/8/12/115individual differences in thinkingchildrenscoping review
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Elisa Jones Arango
Shane Costello
Christine Grové
spellingShingle Elisa Jones Arango
Shane Costello
Christine Grové
A Scoping Review of Different Ways of Thinking in Children
Behavioral Sciences
individual differences in thinking
children
scoping review
author_facet Elisa Jones Arango
Shane Costello
Christine Grové
author_sort Elisa Jones Arango
title A Scoping Review of Different Ways of Thinking in Children
title_short A Scoping Review of Different Ways of Thinking in Children
title_full A Scoping Review of Different Ways of Thinking in Children
title_fullStr A Scoping Review of Different Ways of Thinking in Children
title_full_unstemmed A Scoping Review of Different Ways of Thinking in Children
title_sort scoping review of different ways of thinking in children
publisher MDPI AG
series Behavioral Sciences
issn 2076-328X
publishDate 2018-12-01
description Despite the growing interest in differences in thinking, much less is known about differences in how children think and how they come to think. The aim of this scoping review is to map out the key concepts underpinning the conceptual boundaries of children’s (5–12 years of age) individual differences in thinking. The scoping review identified eight papers for analysis; all of which were set in an educational context. The findings presented inconclusive results regarding learning and thinking differences related to students’ academic achievement. This review has identified two main drawbacks with this research area. Firstly, there is little consensus between the models employed to understand the different ways children think. To further place these findings into context we look at conceptualisations of individual differences, where individuality is considered a process of stable characteristics interacting with more dynamic structures. This analysis highlights the second drawback, previous research has solely focused on exploring thinking characteristics that are not stable and are therefore subject to change depending on the context. The review found that there is little to no research which explores thinking preferences in children that are consistent across contexts and time. Moreover, there was no research identified that explored the impact of differences in thinking outside the educational domain, such as children’s wellbeing. Further research is required to identify the more stable characteristics that reflect and capture children’s different ways of thinking.
topic individual differences in thinking
children
scoping review
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/8/12/115
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