Maybe so. The paper mentions that they then used the CD-ROM The Way Things Work 2.0 to give their test subjects a more accurate view of how these things work.

Maybe so. The paper mentions that they then used the CD-ROM The Way Things Work 2.0 to give their test subjects a more accurate view of how these things work. I actually gave one of my nephews a book from that series (The New Way Things Work) a few years ago, though it mostly covered the mechanics of things. If the confusion was over things like "how does the siphon work" or maybe "why does the water swirl when it flushes", I think that'd be more understandable.