Assumptions made at an early age are held onto throughout education.  The fact of the matter is giraffes have long necks because of natural selection—not because they have been reaching into trees for food.  Darwin’s theory has been proven true and therefore Lamarck’s ideology is a fallacy. 

Throughout our interviews many subjects answered questions with either a Darwinian perspective or Lamarckian perspective.  At times, their views were meshed based on the information probed by individual questions.   After analysis of the questions posed to each subject, it has been determined that individuals believe in both Darwin and Lamarck.  With one exception, Bianca, all individuals held beliefs that combined the two theories.  Bianca stood true to her Lamarckian beliefs throughout the interview, beginning with her belief that her arms would get longer from hanging on the bar to giraffes necks actually getting longer from stretching into trees for food! 

Bianca and Josh have yet to attend any formal education, as they will be entering kindergarten in the fall of 2009.  Bianca’s ideology follows that of Lamarck and Josh’s is a combination of the two theories.  Is this a reflection of parental beliefs or educational backgrounds? Or possibly even religion?  It would have been interesting to interview the subject’s parents to see if they share similar beliefs to their children. Are our initial misconceptions in understanding rooted from our parents?!

Macy is the daughter of Kristie.  Both subjects answered questions in a similar manner combining the two theories of evolution and adaptation.  Ironically, both Macy (7 years old) and Kristie (38 yrs old) answered each question in an identical fashion—giving the same answers.

Dave, for the most part, offered a Darwinian perspective.  However, our questions may have been leading, in suggesting that neck stretching played a larger role than it actually does in the evolution of giraffes. He is able to connect prior knowledge and facts to the possibility of making either illustration true (i.e. He connect the possibility of adaptation the the fact that human have gained height over the past two centuries). In the end however, he selects the Darwinian model because it's more logical to him.