ABSTRACT
In our everyday life as adults we operate with a very complex set of beliefs and expectations about events. An egg rolls across the counter top in the kitchen and we know where to make a grasp for it before it falls over the edge and smashes to the floor. The fact that so many of us can drive around on our roads without more accidents occurring is possible because of the sets of expectations we have developed enabling us to predict the speed and movement of other vehicles on the road and the probable behaviour of pedestrians. Such sets of expectations mean we can live our daily lives without being constantly in a state of disorientation and shock. Similarly, children construct sets of expectations or beliefs about a range of natural phenomena in their efforts to make sense of everyday experiences.
