Mapping children's and adolescents' judgment rules for assessing the risk of disease transmission from sick friends

We examined the way children and adolescents judge the risk of contagion. Five hundred eighty‐seven students aged 7–16 judged the risk of disease transmission in 28 scenarios of students visiting a sick friend that were composed according to a three within‐subject design: type of contact × type of disease × number of contacts. Six judgment rules were found. They were labeled “Contagion can never been ruled out,” “Depends on type of contact,” “Depends on type of disease,” “Depends simultaneously on contact and disease,” “Depends conjunctively on contact and disease,” and “Categorical thinking.” Even 7‐year‐olds seemed to be fully aware of the issue of contagion, although they overgeneralize the risk. As a result, progress in understanding might be best achieved through a process of unlearning rather than learning.
Source: Infant and Child Development - Category: Child Development Authors: Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research