ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the foundational role that intuitive reasoning, such as essentialist and teleological reasoning, and intuitive language forms, such as generics, might play in the development of students’ understanding of biology. We take the position that everyday intuitions do not necessarily impede an understanding of biology, despite some compelling research to the contrary. Although essentialist and teleological biases are often cited as one of reasons that natural selection is difficult to grasp, an expanded essentialism and a restricted form of teleology could well be catalysts for an understanding of evolutionary mechanisms. Likewise, generics may be the key to taxonomic reasoning. Drawing on research in developmental and cognitive psychology, science education, and informal science learning, we provide examples demonstrating under what circumstances intuitive cognitive biases might provide a bridge to more sophisticated reasoning and when they are likely to be an impediment. For the acquisition of complex scientific concepts, it is necessary for students to construct a bridge between their intuitive understandings of the natural world and the more reflective understandings of a mature science. Suppression of intuitive constructs is not sufficient; moreover, it might be counterproductive. Although research demonstrating how to construct these bridges is not yet well developed, this chapter lays the groundwork for such an endeavor.
