"It kinda has like a mind": Children's and parents' beliefs concerning viral disease transmission for COVID-19 and the common cold.
Causal reasoning
Cognitive development
Illness understanding
Naive biology
Naive theories
Journal
Cognition
ISSN: 1873-7838
Titre abrégé: Cognition
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 0367541
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
06 2023
06 2023
Historique:
received:
20
11
2022
revised:
02
02
2023
accepted:
13
02
2023
medline:
11
4
2023
pubmed:
27
2
2023
entrez:
26
2
2023
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
How people reason about disease transmission is central to their commonsense theories, scientific literacy, and adherence to public health guidelines. This study provided an in-depth assessment of U.S. children's (ages 5-12, N = 180) and their parents' (N = 125) understanding of viral transmission of COVID-19 and the common cold, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary aim was to discover children's causal models of viral transmission, by asking them to predict and explain counter-intuitive outcomes (e.g., asymptomatic disease, symptom delay) and processes that cannot be directly observed (e.g., viral replication, how vaccines work). A secondary aim was to explore parental factors that might contribute to children's understanding. Although even the youngest children understood germs as disease-causing and were highly knowledgeable about certain behaviors that transmit or block viral disease (e.g., sneezing, mask-wearing), they generally failed to appreciate the processes that play out over time within the body. Overall, children appeared to rely on two competing mental models of viruses: one in which viruses operate strictly via mechanical processes (movement through space), and one in which viruses are small living creatures, able to grow in size and to move by themselves. These results suggest that distinct causal frameworks co-exist in children's understanding. A challenge for the future is how to teach children about illness as a biological process without also fostering inappropriate animism or anthropomorphism of viruses.
Identifiants
pubmed: 36842249
pii: S0010-0277(23)00047-1
doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105413
pmc: PMC9941317
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
105413Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Références
Child Dev. 2021 Sep;92(5):e817-e831
pubmed: 34463345
Cognition. 2009 Apr;111(1):138-43
pubmed: 19200537
Cogn Psychol. 2009 Mar;58(2):177-94
pubmed: 18710700
J Microbiol Biol Educ. 2017 Apr 21;18(1):
pubmed: 28912934
Cognition. 2012 Aug;124(2):209-15
pubmed: 22595144
J Exp Child Psychol. 2004 Jan;87(1):1-32
pubmed: 14698687
Top Cogn Sci. 2020 Oct;12(4):1337-1362
pubmed: 31762226
Psychon Bull Rev. 2017 Oct;24(5):1548-1554
pubmed: 28744768
Annu Rev Psychol. 2009;60:115-40
pubmed: 18631027
Monogr Soc Res Child Dev. 2018 Jun;83(2):175-183
pubmed: 29668053
J Cogn Dev. 2016;17(5):718-736
pubmed: 28713222
Science. 2015 Apr 3;348(6230):91-4
pubmed: 25838378
Front Psychol. 2021 Feb 25;12:589800
pubmed: 33732179
Cognition. 1994 Apr-Jun;50(1-3):171-88
pubmed: 8039360
Front Psychol. 2022 Jun 28;13:929120
pubmed: 35837651
Br J Psychol. 2007 Aug;98(Pt 3):389-410
pubmed: 17705938
Top Cogn Sci. 2016 Jan;8(1):118-37
pubmed: 26612345
Cogn Psychol. 2008 Aug;57(1):1-19
pubmed: 18457822
Annu Rev Psychol. 2018 Jan 4;69:251-273
pubmed: 28793811
J Sci Educ Technol. 2007;16(1):47
pubmed: 32214773
Cogn Sci. 2008 Jun;32(4):607-42
pubmed: 21635349
Sci Am. 2004 Dec;291(6):100-5
pubmed: 15597986
PLoS One. 2021 Aug 26;16(8):e0256692
pubmed: 34437619
Child Dev. 2012 May-Jun;83(3):779-93
pubmed: 22417318
CBE Life Sci Educ. 2012 Fall;11(3):209-15
pubmed: 22949417
J Appl Soc Psychol. 2021 Apr;51(4):461-473
pubmed: 33821031
EMBO Rep. 2010 Oct;11(10):721
pubmed: 20877292
Public Underst Sci. 2015 Feb;24(2):241-56
pubmed: 23959975
Front Psychol. 2018 Nov 15;9:2205
pubmed: 30498465
Cogn Dev. 2019 Oct-Dec;52:
pubmed: 32831471
Public Underst Sci. 2021 Jul;30(5):621-640
pubmed: 33570004
Child Dev. 2010 May-Jun;81(3):929-44
pubmed: 20573114
Monogr Soc Res Child Dev. 2020 Mar;85(1):7-137
pubmed: 32175600
J Exp Child Psychol. 2016 Mar;143:162-70
pubmed: 26615972
Annu Rev Psychol. 2006;57:227-54
pubmed: 16318595
Annu Rev Psychol. 1992;43:337-75
pubmed: 1539946
Child Dev. 2000 Sep-Oct;71(5):1205-22
pubmed: 11108092
Psychon Bull Rev. 2017 Oct;24(5):1555-1562
pubmed: 28097604
Cogn Sci. 2002 Sep 1;26(5):521-562
pubmed: 21442007
Front Psychol. 2014 Mar 17;5:172
pubmed: 24672493
Biometrics. 1977 Mar;33(1):159-74
pubmed: 843571
Dev Psychol. 1999 Jan;35(1):113-26
pubmed: 9923469
Front Psychol. 2014 Apr 10;5:283
pubmed: 24782793
J Appl Res Mem Cogn. 2021 Sep;10(3):381-391
pubmed: 34729297