When Wrong Earth Models Make Sense

Introduction

Children’s ideas about the shape of the Earth provide one of the clearest demonstrations that misconceptions are often logical attempts to make sense of conflicting information. In a landmark series of studies, researchers found that many children did not simply choose between “the Earth is flat” and “the Earth is round”. Instead, they built imaginative intermediate models that combined classroom teaching with everyday experience. These models were wrong from a scientific standpoint, but they were internally coherent and often remarkably consistent.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

The case matters because it reveals how myths and misconceptions can persist. People rarely abandon an existing mental model all at once. When new information clashes with what seems obvious from experience, they often create hybrid explanations that preserve as much coherence as possible. Children’s Earth models show this process in a particularly visible form.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

Why Flat Ground Conflicts with a Round Earth

For a young child, the idea that the Earth is a sphere creates an immediate problem. Everything in everyday experience appears to support the opposite conclusion. The ground looks flat. Buildings stand upright. People do not appear to be hanging upside down. Nothing suggests that the surface curves dramatically beneath one’s feet.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

Stella Vosniadou and William Brewer argued that children begin with certain deeply rooted assumptions derived from ordinary observation. Two are especially important:

• The ground people live on is flat.[www2.pd.infn.it]www2.pd.infn.itMental Models of the Earth Conceptual Changeby S VOSNIADOU · 1992 · Cited by 3046 — This paper presents the results of an experiment whic…
• Objects need support underneath them and cannot simply remain suspended in space.

These assumptions work well in everyday life, so children treat them as reliable facts about the world. The challenge arises when adults tell them that the Earth is round. Instead of immediately replacing their existing assumptions, many children try to integrate the new information into their old framework.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

This helps explain why misconceptions can be so stable. The problem is not ignorance. The child is actively reasoning. The misconception emerges because two seemingly trustworthy sources of information—direct experience and cultural instruction—point in different directions.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

Disc, Hollow, and Flattened Sphere Models

The most influential evidence comes from a 1992 study in which children were interviewed about the Earth’s shape, where people live, where the sky is located, and what would happen at the Earth’s edge. Rather than producing random answers, many children gave patterns of responses that fit identifiable mental models.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

The Disc Earth

Some children imagined the Earth as a large flat disc. This model preserved the appearance of flat ground while acknowledging that the Earth might be round in the sense of being circular. In this view, one could potentially reach an edge and fall off.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

The model demonstrates a subtle point: the child is not rejecting the word “round”. Instead, “round” is interpreted as a flat circle rather than a globe. The misconception arises from a difference in meaning rather than a simple factual error.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

The Dual Earth

One of the most striking findings was the “dual Earth” model. Children using this model effectively maintained two Earths at once. There was a round Earth discussed by adults and shown in books, but there was also the flat ground where people actually lived. The scientific Earth and the experienced Earth coexisted without being fully integrated.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

This is a powerful example of how new information can be stored without fundamentally restructuring an older worldview. The child accepts the taught fact while preserving the original explanatory framework.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

The Hollow Sphere

Some children accepted that the Earth was spherical yet still believed people must stand on a flat surface. Their solution was to place people inside the sphere. In the hollow-sphere model, humans lived on a flat interior region, while the Earth itself remained round when viewed from outside.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

From an adult perspective this seems bizarre. From the child’s perspective it solves multiple problems simultaneously:

The model is creative because it reconciles conflicting constraints rather than choosing one side and ignoring the other.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

The Flattened Sphere

Another group imagined a thick, pancake-like Earth. It was rounded around the sides but flattened on the top and bottom where people lived. This model preserved the idea that the Earth is generally spherical while retaining a flat region suitable for human habitation.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…[PsyBlog]spring.org.ukhow children learn earth isnt flatPsyBlogHow Children Learn the Earth Isn't Flat30 Apr 2008 — Hollow sphere: thought we live inside the Earth on a flat area (12/60). Flatt…

Again, the misconception is not random. It reflects an effort to minimise conflict between observation and instruction. The child modifies the scientific claim just enough to fit prior assumptions.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

What These Models Reveal About Conceptual Change

The Earth studies became influential because they shifted attention away from isolated wrong answers and toward underlying mental models. Researchers argued that conceptual change often involves restructuring a network of assumptions rather than replacing a single belief. ScienceDirect[academia]academia.eduConceptual Change and EducationAcademia(PDF) Conceptual Change and EducationReview of Educational Research, 57, 51–67. Vosniadou, S., & Brewer, W.F. (1992). Mental mode… A child cannot fully understand a spherical Earth simply by memorising the sentence“the Earth is round”. To make sense of the scientific model, the child must also revise ideas about gravity, up and down, support, space, and perspective. Until those related concepts change, hybrid models remain attractive.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

This insight helped shape broader theories of conceptual change in science education. Learning was increasingly seen as a process of reorganising existing knowledge structures rather than filling an empty container with facts. ERIC[Academia At the same time]academia.eduConceptual Change and EducationAcademia(PDF) Conceptual Change and EducationReview of Educational Research, 57, 51–67. Vosniadou, S., & Brewer, W.F. (1992). Mental mode…, later researchers questioned whether all of the identified Earth models were as coherent and widespread as originally proposed. Some studies suggested that interview methods and drawing tasks may have exaggerated the appearance of stable mental models. Children can misunderstand questions, switch between perspectives, or produce inconsistent answers. Nevertheless, even critics generally agree that children often struggle to integrate intuitive beliefs with scientific explanations and that hybrid understandings are common during learning.[PubMed]pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govMental models and other misconceptions in children's…by G Panagiotaki · 2009 · Cited by 122 — This study investigated the claim…[ResearchGate]researchgate.netReframing the Classical Approach to Conceptual ChangeFrom a theoretical perspective, these difficulties can be explained through Vosniado…

What Public Myth Correction Can Learn from Classrooms

The Earth-model case has implications far beyond childhood astronomy. It illustrates why simply presenting a correct fact does not always eliminate a misconception.

When children hear that the Earth is spherical, they do not automatically discard beliefs that flat ground supports people. Instead, they create intermediary explanations that preserve both ideas. Adults often behave similarly when confronting corrections to political, health, economic, or scientific myths. New information is frequently grafted onto older assumptions rather than replacing them.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

Three lessons emerge:

Children’s Earth models remain a classic example because they expose a process that is usually hidden. They show the mind trying to preserve coherence while adapting to new evidence. The resulting models may be scientifically wrong, but they reveal an important truth about myths and misconceptions: people are often not failing to think. They are thinking with the best model they currently have.[ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comMental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change…by S Vosniadou · 1992 · Cited by 3047 — Five alternative mental…

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Endnotes

1. Source: sciencedirect.com
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/001002859290018W

2. Source: sciencedirect.com
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022096508001513

3. Source: academia.edu
Title: Conceptual Change and Education
Link:https://www.academia.edu/48524586/Conceptual_Change_and_Education

4. Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278716843_Reframing_the_Classical_Approach_to_Conceptual_Change_Preconceptions_Misconceptions_and_Synthetic_Models

5. Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23682515_Mental_models_and_other_misconceptions_in_children%27s_understanding_of_the_earth

6. Source: www2.pd.infn.it
Link:https://www2.pd.infn.it/~lacaprar/ProgettoScuola/Biblio/Vosniadou%20-%20Mental%20Models%20of%20the%20Earth%20Conceptual%20Change.pdf

7. Source: spring.org.uk
Title: how children learn earth isnt flat
Link:https://www.spring.org.uk/2008/04/how-children-learn-earth-isnt-flat.php

8. Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19100995/

9. Source: gral.ip.rm.cnr.it
Link:https://gral.ip.rm.cnr.it/borghi/vosniadou.pdf

Additional References

10. Source: link.springer.com
Link:https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-642-77228

11. Source: carlhendrick.substack.com
Title: The Learning Dispatch“Well-Organised Misunderstanding”: The Fine Art of Being
Link:https://carlhendrick.substack.com/p/well-organised-misunderstanding-the

12. Source: scispace.com
Link:https://scispace.com/pdf/the-concept-of-the-earth-s-shape-a-study-of-conceptual-129cu3mjf0.pdf

13. Source: files.eric.ed.gov
Title: ERICDOCUMENT RESUME Vosniadou, Stella Designing Curricula
Link:https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED404098.pdf

14. Source: nsuworks.nova.edu
Link:https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1128&context=edp

15. Source: education.asu.edu
Title: chi concpetualchangechapter 0
Link:https://education.asu.edu/sites/g/files/litvpz656/files/lcl/chi_concpetualchangechapter_0.pdf

16. Source: youtube.com
Title: Mental Models and Scientific Understanding
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h9Vq1p8yYQ

17. Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6713729/

18. Source: bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Link:https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/026151005X39116

19. Source: link.springer.com
Link:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A%3A1008697908361