You're doing it all wrong!

[DinoToyForum]

This is an interesting one

"Kids Are Still Drawing 1900s Idea Of What Dinosaurs Looked Like"
http://www.popsci.com.au/science/kids-are-still-drawing-1900s-idea-of-what-dinosaurs-looked-like

Blame Barney: Students' perception of T. rex is outdated.
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Feb13/TRex.html

[CityRaptor]

That is seriously messed up. I thought Jurassic Park fixed that issue, but seems I was wrong.
Makes Barney even more evil and Rex even more a disgrace than both already are.

[Thundercharge]

That's pretty sad, and almost embarrassing that the college age students were almost 10% worse. I wonder if they were instructed to draw it accurately as possible or were just told to draw one (and kinda opted for a cutesy/pop-culture style drawing). One would think that way more than a quarter of college kids would know what they looked like.

[tyrantqueen]

It is pretty sad, but I bet most of these people weren't dinosaur enthusiasts like most of us are here. They probably were going off what is well known in pop culture. The slow, tail dragging and phlegmatic dinosaurs of the 1950's are still a big part of pop culture, and they will be for a long time.

[CityRaptor]

But Jurassic Park brought the more modern image into pop culture. And that movie was highly influential on the general view of Dinosaurs ( in good and in bad ways ).  So even they should know better.

[SBell]

But Jurassic Park brought the more modern image into pop culture. And that movie was highly influential on the general view of Dinosaurs ( in good and in bad ways ).  So even they should know better.

That was the point of the studies. Even though much better depictions are out there, the child-friendly images are so outdated that those are the impressions people have. And since baby toys and cookies look like old-fashioned dinos, that's what people's brains associate with 'dinosaur'.

[CityRaptor]

In that case, we need better toys for little children!

[SBell]

In that case, we need better toys for little children!

It's more than toys--it's chicken nuggets, bath sponges, cookie cutters, window decals--all sorts of things. By the time they are old enough for proper looking toys the die is already cast.

[CityRaptor]

So basically they are doomed to see a World of Retrosaurs in their minds...rather depressing.

[tyrantqueen]

So basically they are doomed to see a World of Retrosaurs in their minds...rather depressing.

Hardly..the information is out there if they decide to seek it out. It's not like an understanding of modern paleontology is a suppressed secret or something. They probably just don't care.

[Gryphoceratops]

I bet if they did this study again in 18 years the images would be better (who knows what science will have revealed by then but still).  When I speak to young school groups about dinosaurs they are basing their knowledge off of shows like "Dino Dan" and "Dinosaur Train" both of which are pretty darn good. 

SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION but its relevant.

http://jerseyboyhuntsdinosaurs.blogspot.com/2012/05/dino-day-2012-kids-know-their-dinosaurs.html

[ZoPteryx]

So sad.

[stoneage]

That's pretty sad, and almost embarrassing that the college age students were almost 10% worse. I wonder if they were instructed to draw it accurately as possible or were just told to draw one (and kinda opted for a cutesy/pop-culture style drawing). One would think that way more than a quarter of college kids would know what they looked like.

I think what the study shows is that the older students were less in touch with current thinking.  They have been exposed longer then the younger student to retro dinosaurs.  In 30 years the students will be drawing dinosaurs the way we see them now.  Of course by then dinosaurs probably won't look anything like we see them today.  Todays dinosaurs will be retro tomorrow.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Those of us that paid attention to JP learned from it...I highly doubt many did then other to see a monster movie and even fewer know of it now. 

We need more accurate dinos in popular culture that appeal to everyone..that's ticket. I hardly blame Barney though..he has a lot more incorrect than his posture.

[stoneage]

Those of us that paid attention to JP learned from it...I highly doubt many did then other to see a monster movie and even fewer know of it now. 

We need more accurate dinos in popular culture that appeal to everyone..that's ticket. I hardly blame Barney though..he has a lot more incorrect than his posture.

  Barney is nothing more then a scary clown!

[Takama]

Those of us that paid attention to JP learned from it...I highly doubt many did then other to see a monster movie and even fewer know of it now. 

We need more accurate dinos in popular culture that appeal to everyone..that's ticket. I hardly blame Barney though..he has a lot more incorrect than his posture.

  Barney is nothing more then a scary clown!

But he should relly be this

[ZoPteryx]

^Funny!


I was thinking, a part of the problem (in college at least) might be out-dated textbooks.  I took a historical geology class (study of geologic time, fossils, evolution, etc) last year and the textbook's info on Mesozoic life, and dinosaurs in particular, was shockingly out-dated, and this was supposed to be the revised addition (published in 2003 I think)!  Sauropods (like Brontosaurus, Ultrasaurus, and Allosaurus!  ) having to live in water to support their body weight; pterosaurs being delicate gliders that could barely walk, ornithopods including all the little "roadrunner dinosaurs" like Velociraptor, and plesiosaurs ambushing their prey like crocodiles and striking at them like snakes!  At least it managed to get the evolution of birds correct, more or less.  Aside from these errors, the illustrations it used were distinctly, and I believe intentionally, retro (although there were corrections in the captions, and the book's cover was by Luis Rey!).  I think all of these factors could culminate into students getting the perception of dinos messed up.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

True, I recall all my science books in school using outdated images and info.  Most public schools just don't update their books very often. I recall in some cases using textbooks that were 10 years or more old.

[Iguanocolossus]

I admit, I based my first drawings of Charles Knight and Rudolph Zallinger. Fortunately it doesn't matter since I'm a terrible artist anyway.

[SaurornitholestesForever]

Currently, in class, we are learning about the dinosaurs and past life. I don't notice much quite yet wrong, but when she put up pictures of dinosaurs, my dino had NO feathers! I was insulted that I know more about it than my teacher (8th grade)! Also, before I became interested in dinosaurs, I drew them by drawing a weird Barney-looking reptile that is green, with yellow eyes. Now I know a dinosaur is much more difficult with color coding and the shape, even the teeth. To make my avatar, I colored it 7 times until I decided on the color. It's hard to color a dinosaur how you think. So, it's not as simple as Barney.
Ps: When I was 9 and I had TV, I watched 'Dinosaur Train' every day! That was my favorite show! XD