Children Overestimate Cute Animals In Rainforests, While Underestimating Insects And Annelids
Sunday, July 6, 2008 - 19:21
in Biology & Nature
Researchers investigated children's perceptions of rainforest biodiversity by asking young museum visitors to draw their ideal rainforest, as part of a competition, and found that while children have a sophisticated understanding of rainforest ecosystems, they tend to overestimate the relative numbers of some taxa (mainly "cuter" mammals, birds and reptiles) while underestimating the proportions of less charismatic taxa, such as insects and annelids.