Can They Think Differently?

For children 6 to 9- years old

This study will take place on Zoom - live with a researcher! Clicking on the “Schedule a time to participate” button will send you to an online calendar where you can select a date and time that works best for you and your child.

First, a researcher will have a short conversation with your child about each of the stories. In each story a character holds a specific belief which an authority figure challenges. These beliefs include things like: What is more fun, what helps a plant grow, and what helps a hungry kitten. Next, we will ask your child how they would interpret this new conflicting information! We want to see how children think about information that contradicts the characters prior beliefs. We will ask both what your child thinks the character will believe and what a character will actually do with this new information!

In this study, we are interested in how children think about belief change. Do children think that belief can only be changed for certain reasons? How does this change depending on the type of belief? The stories told by the researcher investigate how children think the characters in the stories will alter their beliefs, depending on the type of the belief and the type of reason provided by an authority. This helps us understand how children make decisions and learn in our social world!

25 minutes

Families will receive a small thank-you gift in the form of a $5 Amazon gift card (Amazon.com) within 2 weeks of participation. Compensation is provided once your child, who must be within the study’s age range, attends the scheduled Zoom session and is present and visible during the study.