Do Children and Other Animals Think Like Scientists?

For decades, psychologists have characterised young children as little scientists, a comparison made famous by the 1999 book The Scientist in the Crib. A core claim of this perspective is that children (and other animals such as chimpanzees, dogs, and birds) use abstract theories to navigate the world, much like researchers discovering and applying general laws. This idea is striking when contrasted with contemporary philosophy of science. Within this discipline, there is a consensus that…