Maria Scavnicky
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Susan Gelman, Professor
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Psychology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Presentation Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Session: Session 2 (11am – 11:50am)
Breakout Room: Room 5
Presenter: 2
Abstract
Despite the vast scientific research by Americans on pandemics from the past, little is known about how children are impacted by these unprecedented times and uncertainty. According to Au et al. (2008), the results from their findings suggest that education has the power to foster effective health-promoting behaviors among children and provides a basis for this COVID-COLD study. As a way to understand how children process these scenarios and adapt their behaviors according to public guidelines, this study focuses on how children conceptualize this information during the present-day COVID-19 pandemic. This two-part study reveals how children conceptualize common colds and the COVID-19 virus through qualitative, self-administered studies via a virtual survey. 320 children ages 5-12 from the United States participated in this study and were asked to complete two virtual studies: The Common Cold study and the COVID-19 study. The study is administered over the video-streaming platform Zoom, and the researcher adheres to a script for the entirety of the virtual meeting. Because this study is fairly new, a formal analysis of these research findings has not yet been conducted and an analysis is to-be determined. This study adds on to a fairly underrepresented research area and is part of a growing body of cognitive-developmental research during the COVID-19 pandemic. In delving into a largely unexplored area of cognitive-developmental research, this project hopes to contribute to future research on how best to teach children about colds and viruses. Understanding how children navigate through these unprecedented times and how they conceptualize these abstract concepts allows caregivers, teachers, and adults to learn the most efficient way in educating children in the future.
Authors: Maria Scavnicky, Susan Gelman
Research Method: Survey Research
