TY - JOUR
T1 - Expert–novice differences in mental models of viruses, vaccines, and the causes of infectious disease
AU - Jee, Benjamin D.
AU - Uttal, David H.
AU - Spiegel, Amy
AU - Diamond, Judy
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Omaha Schools Foundation and the “World of Viruses” and “Biology of Human” projects funded by the National Institutes of Health through the Science Education Partnership Award Grants Nos. R25RR024267 and R25OD010506. Its content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIH.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2013.
PY - 2015/2
Y1 - 2015/2
N2 - Humans are exposed to viruses everywhere they live, play, and work. Yet people’s beliefs about viruses may be confused or inaccurate, potentially impairing their understanding of scientific information. This study used semi-structured interviews to examine people’s beliefs about viruses, vaccines, and the causes of infectious disease. We compared people at different levels of science expertise: middle school students, teachers, and professional virologists. The virologists described more entities involved in microbiological processes, how these entities behaved, and why. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed distinctions in the cognitive organization of several concepts, including infection and vaccination. For example, some students and teachers described viral replication in terms of cell division, independent of a host. Interestingly, most students held a mental model for vaccination in which the vaccine directly attacks a virus that is present in the body. Our findings have immediate implications for how to communicate about infectious disease to young people.
AB - Humans are exposed to viruses everywhere they live, play, and work. Yet people’s beliefs about viruses may be confused or inaccurate, potentially impairing their understanding of scientific information. This study used semi-structured interviews to examine people’s beliefs about viruses, vaccines, and the causes of infectious disease. We compared people at different levels of science expertise: middle school students, teachers, and professional virologists. The virologists described more entities involved in microbiological processes, how these entities behaved, and why. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed distinctions in the cognitive organization of several concepts, including infection and vaccination. For example, some students and teachers described viral replication in terms of cell division, independent of a host. Interestingly, most students held a mental model for vaccination in which the vaccine directly attacks a virus that is present in the body. Our findings have immediate implications for how to communicate about infectious disease to young people.
KW - expertise
KW - infectious disease
KW - mental models
KW - public understanding of science and health
KW - vaccines
KW - viruses
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U2 - 10.1177/0963662513496954
DO - 10.1177/0963662513496954
M3 - Article
C2 - 23959975
AN - SCOPUS:84951575013
SN - 0963-6625
VL - 24
SP - 241
EP - 256
JO - Public Understanding of Science
JF - Public Understanding of Science
IS - 2
ER -
