Science museums and psychology: interactivity, experimentation, and context

• Published in: História, ciências, saúde--Manguinhos Vol. 12; no. Suppl; p. 79
• Main Author: Colinvaux, Dominique
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Brazil 2005
• Subjects: Education - history; Education - methods; Education - trends; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Museums - history; Psychology; Science - education
• ISSN: 0104-5970

The article reflects on the notion of the museum experience from the perspective of a visitor to a science and technology museum. Unlike studies that postulate a generic, abstract 'model visitor', the goal was to discuss the perspectives of the visitor as a psychological being, and to this end the research relied on the notion of interactivity. Using two classic psychology studies analyzing the behavior of children and adolescents, the current study first focused on the notion of experimentation, characterized as an interaction between subject and object. It then explored interactions between subjects and contexts, approaching from the notion of mediated action. My conclusion is that a museum experience should, on the one hand, take into account the visitor's ability to act, ask, and experiment and, on the other, the specific museum contexts that invite and propose but may also limit these very chances to act, question, and experiment.