Children respond cognitively to nature: Earth’s most complex information system

Why are children’s relationships with animals and nature so important?

— Animals and the natural world are important both in childhood and as a foundation for development in life. The natural world is the most complex system on the planet — much more complex than any human-constructed machine or environment. And children thrive cognitively by processing complex information.

Just as important, children respond emotionally to the intricacy and beauty of nature, which gives a sense of wonder. This is built into the evolutionary structure of humans who, as animals themselves, co-evolved with other life forms in an interdependent web of living things. In sum, children’s connections with animals, and more broadly, all life forms, affect them in all domains of their development — cognitive, social, emotional and moral.

What can adults learn from children’s wonder at nature?

— Adults could benefit from recapturing the feeling of wonder that children experience when encountering something new and beautiful. We adults can become overwhelmed, especially now, with anxiety. Wonder puts us in the moment and away from anxiety, if only for a short time. In that sense, recapturing a sense of wonder is an important therapeutic tool for everyone.

How do animals help children develop what is termed ‘Theory of Mind’?

— Children gradually develop ideas about the workings of other minds — they come to understand what must be going on in another person’s mind in order to predict that person’s behaviour. This can be challenging, especially when the cognitive processes in another person’s mind are different from the child’s — here, animals pose excellent opportunities to develop theory of mind since their perceptions and mental processes, by definition, are different from those of humans. In this way, animals challenge a child to imaginatively put himself or herself into the “paws” of another being quite different from oneself.

Given these findings, does a weaker bond with nature then lead to a disregard for it?

— Interestingly, research suggests that children who live in nature-impoverished environments still have sensitivity to and concern for environmental damage. A series of studies by Peter Kahn of the University activity of Washington, for instance, found that chil- about 10 dren living in inner-city being Houston, Texas, a very industrialised and polluted area, showed high levels of environmental concern — this should give us hope.

At the same time though, Kahn suggested that growing up in environmentally damaged areas may also lead to what he calls “environmental amnesia” — this refers to the perception that the environment one grows up in is a “normal” one, since the person has no direct experience with the environmental losses that occurred before that person was born.

Matter referenced:

Gail F. Melson, Professor Emerita, Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Purdue University. Times Evoke, Times of India, Ahmedabad, Saturday, 2nd May, 2020.

By: Dr. Bhawana Asnani.

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