Family Friendly ControversyFamily Friendly Controversy Affective and Cognitive Expectations for and Reactions to

BODY WORLDSKimberly M. Burtnyk, M.Sc.

Manager of Research and Evaluation, Amgen Center for Science LearningCalifornia Science Center

Outline

• Brief History of BODY WORLDS

• Current research study

• Profile Analyses

A Brief History of BODY WORLDS

• BODY WORLDS 200+ real human specimensSpecimens are Plastinated

Tissues replaced by polymer plastic through a vacuum process.

The Study

• Families • W/children 7-12 y.o. • Pre-/post-visit• Affective and cognitive

expectations and outcomes

• Profile analyses compared adult and child expectations and outcomes

1. What did children expect to feel/learn and what did parents expect their children to feel/learn in BODY WORLDS?

2. How did children’s reactions compare with expectations for learning and affect?

Research Questions

1. What did children expect to feel/learn and what did parents expect their children to feel/learn in BODY WORLDS?

2. How did children’s reactions compare with expectations for learning and affect?

Research Questions

6) How do you think you/your child will react to seeing the exhibits? Not at all

Extremely

Will you be curious? 1 2 3 4 5 6

Will you be fascinated? 1 2 3 4 5 6

Will you be uncomfortable? 1 2 3 4 5 6

Will you be interested? 1 2 3 4 5 6

Will you be sad/upset? 1 2 3 4 5 6

Will it make you think a lot? 1 2 3 4 5 6

Will you be confused? 1 2 3 4 5 6

Will you be grossed out? 1 2 3 4 5 6

Will you be bored? 1 2 3 4 5 6

Will it be creepy? 1 2 3 4 5 6

Affect Measuring Question

Child Positive and Negative Expectations

POSITIVE POSITIVE

TERMSTERMS

NEGATIVE NEGATIVE

TERMSTERMS

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Not at all or hardlyany

A little or somew hat Very or Extremely

Curious

Fascinated

Interested

Think a lot

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Not at all or hardlyany

A little or Somew hat Very or Extremely

Uncomfortable

Sad/Upset

Confused

Grossed out

Bored

Creepy

Adult Positive and Negative Expectations for their Children

POSITIVE POSITIVE

TERMSTERMS

NEGATIVE NEGATIVE

TERMSTERMS0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Not at all or Hardlyany

A little or Somew hat Very or Extremely

Uncomfortable

Sad/Upset

Confused

Grossed out

Bored

Creepy

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Not at all or Hardly any A little or Somew hat Very or Extremely

Curious

Fascinated

Interested

Think a lot

Parent expectations for children (relative to child self-expectations)

Positive Expectations

0%

5%10%

15%

20%

25%30%

35%

40%

Fa

scin

ate

d

Cu

rio

us

Inte

rest

ed

Th

ink

a lo

t

More positive

More negative

Parent expectations for children (relative to child self-expectations)

Negative Expectations

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%

Unc

omfo

rtab

le

Sad

Con

fuse

d

Gro

ssed

out

Cre

epy

Bor

ed

More positive

More negative

Profile Analyses

Any Likert type scale or Semantic Differential can be analyzed using “Profile Analysis.” E.g.

This exhibit was: Totally Somewhat Neither agree Somewhat Totally disagree disagree nor disagree agree agree

Fun 0 1 2 3 4Silly 0 1 2 3 4Educational 0 1 2 3 4Exciting 0 1 2 3 4

The exhibit was…Terrible 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Fantastic

Ugly 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Beautiful

Exciting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Boring

Profile Analyses

For each variable, mean scores are calculated and plotted to see the “profile” of visitor responses. E.g.:

Visitor opinions

0

0.5

1

1.52

2.5

3

3.5

4

Fun Silly Educational Exciting

Meanscores

Profile Analyses

Comparisons can then be made between independent

variables such as Age, Gender, Education, etc.

Visitor Opinions (split by gender)

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

Fun Silly Educational Exciting

Mean Malescores

Mean Femalescores

Adult and Child Expectations

Profile analyses were conducted on the following:

•Adult self expectations vs. Adult expectations of child – How different an experience did adults expect children to have, compared to their own expectations?

• Adult self expectations vs. Child self expectations – How different were adult and child affective expectations for the visit?

•Male vs. Female child expectations – Did boys and girls expect to have different experiences?

•Adult expectations of male vs. female children – Did parents exhibit any gender biasing?

•Male vs. Female adult expectations of child – Did adult gender affect how they expected children to react?

Adult Self Expectations

Adult (of self) mean = 5.19, SD = 0.37

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

CURIOUS

FASCINATE

D

UNCOMFO

RTABLE

INTERESTE

D

SAD/E

MO

TIONAL

THOUG

HTFUL

CONFUSED

GROSSED O

UT

BO

RED

AFRAID

mor

e ne

gativ

e

Res

pons

e

mor

e po

sitiv

e

Adult SelfPre

Adult Self Expectations vs. Adult Expectations of Child

P < 0.04 Adult (of self) mean = 5.19, SD = 0.37

Adult (of child) mean = 4.78, SD = 0.41

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

CURIOUS

FASCINATE

D

UNCOMFO

RTABLE

INTERESTE

D

SAD/E

MO

TIONAL

THOUG

HTFUL

CONFUSED

GROSSED O

UT

BO

RED

AFRAID

mor

e ne

gativ

e

Res

pons

e

mor

e po

sitiv

e

Adult SelfPre

Adult (ofChild Pre)

Adult Expectations of Child

Adult (of child) mean = 4.78, SD = 0.41

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

mor

e ne

gativ

e

Res

pons

e

mor

e po

sitiv

e

Adult (ofChild Pre)

Adult Expectations of Child vs. Child Self Expectations

Adult (of child) mean = 4.78, SD = 0.41

Child (self) mean = 4.88, SD = 0.46

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

CURIOUS

FASCINATE

D

UNCOMFO

RTABLE

INTERESTE

D

SAD/E

MO

TIONAL

THOUG

HTFUL

CONFUSED

GROSSED O

UT

BO

RED

AFRAID

mor

e ne

gativ

e

Res

pons

e

mor

e po

sitiv

e

Adult (ofChild Pre)

Child SelfPre

Male and Female Child Affective Expectations

Gender Differences

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

mo

re n

egat

ive

R

ES

PO

NS

E

m

ore

po

siti

ve

Female ChildSelf Pre

Male ChildSelf Pre

Female mean = 4.95, SD = 0.45

Male mean = 4.81, SD = 0.44

Adult Expectations of Male and Female Children

Adult Expectations of Male vs. Female Children

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

mor

e ne

gativ

e

R

ES

PO

NS

E

m

ore

posi

tive

AdultFemaleChild Pre

Adult MaleChild Pre

Adult expect of Female child mean = 4.80, SD = 0.42

Adult expect of Male child mean = 4.75, SD = 0.36

Male and Female Adult Expectations of Children

Male and Female Adult Expectations of Child

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

more

negativ

e R

ES

PO

NS

E

more

positi

ve

FemaleAdult (ofChild Pre)

Male Adult(of ChildPre)

Adult Female (expect of child) mean = 4.81, SD = 0.44

Adult Male (expect of child) mean = 4.72, SD = 0.36

• Adults expected children to have a significantly less positive experience than they themselves expected to have.

• Girls were slightly more positive about seeing the exhibit than boys

• Adults displayed no gender biasing when rating male and female child expected reactions.

• Children were overall positive about the impending visit

Affective Expectations Summary

How well did adults predict children’s affective responses to BODY WORLDS?

Conducted profile analyses on the following:

1) Adult expectations vs. Child outcomes – how well did adults predict the experience children would have?

2) Child expectations vs. Child outcomes – how well did children themselves gauge their own response?

So what happened?

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

mo

re n

eg

ati

ve

R

ES

PO

NS

E

mo

re p

osit

ive

Adult (ofChildPre)

Adult Expectations vs. Child Outcomes (Mean scores)

Adult (of child) Pre mean = 4.78, SD = 0.41

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

mo

re n

eg

ati

ve

R

ES

PO

NS

E

mo

re p

osit

ive

Adult (ofChildPre)

ChildSelf Post

Adult Expectations vs. Child Outcomes (Mean scores)

Adult (of child) Pre mean = 4.78, SD = 0.41

Child Self Post mean = 4.83, SD = 0.46

Child Expectations vs. Child Outcomes (Mean scores)

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

mo

re n

eg

ati

ve R

ES

PO

NS

E m

ore

po

sit

ive

Child SelfPre

Child SelfPost

Child Self Pre mean = 4.88, SD = 0.46

Child Self Post mean = 4.83, SD = 0.46

Cognitive Expectations and Outcomes

Open-ended questions probed cognitive expectations and outcomes:

What is BODY WORLDS about?

What did your parents tell you?/What did you tell your children?

Why is it/not a good exhibit for kids to see?

(A) Which exhibits did you discuss with your children? / (C) Which exhibits to you remember the most?

Why those?/What did you talk about?

(A) Tell us 2 things your child learned / (C) Complete the sentence: I never knew that…

Is BODY WORLDS a good exhibit for kids?

Category Definition and examples

Anat. terms

Specific Anatomy

See/Learn about specific/less common anatomical terms: “pancreas,” “breast tissue,” “brain cells,” “vascular system.”

Neutral Anatomy

See/Learn about anatomical terms that are specific but familiar parts of the body: “hip,” “heart,” “lungs,” “brain,” “nerves.”

General Anatomy

See/Learn about “anatomy,” common terms: “the human body,” or groups of body parts such as “muscles,” “organs,” “tissues.”

Bodily f’cns

How the body works

See/Learn about “how the body works” or any process/function of the body.

See Inside the body

See/Learn about “what the body looks like inside”: “see inside,” “under the skin,” “what's under the body.”

Health See/Learn about health related: smoking, disease, healthy, “fatty foods”

Gen. expct’ns

Educational “Educational,” “learn science,” “know more about,” “informative.”

Good for school Good/need/learn for school and or school project.

Cool/ interesting

Positive affective responses, any statement of enjoyment/excitement, “fun,” “cool,” “interesting.”

Negative comment

Negative/tentative affective comments: “wrong,” “gross,” “disgusting.”

ExhibitExhibit specific (non-anatomy)

Additional exhibit specific information: Plastination, real bodies, made in Germany, controversial, donated bodies. Excluding anatomical terms.

Parent and Child Cognitive Expectations

What Children and Parents Expected to see in BODY WORLDS

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Gen

eral

Anato

my

See in

side

the

body

Cool/I

nter

estin

g

Exhib

it spe

cific

Educa

tiona

l

How th

e bod

y wor

ks

Neutra

l Ana

tom

y

Specif

ic Ana

tom

y

Health

Negat

ive c

omm

ent

Goo

d fo

r Sch

ool

Adults

Children

Learning Outcomes Summary

What Kids said They Learned vs. What Parents Thought their Kids Learned

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%

Cool/In

tere

sting

Specif

ic Ana

tom

y

Neutra

l Anato

my

Exhib

it spe

cific

See h

ow th

e bo

dy w

orks

See in

side b

ody

Health re

lated

Gener

al Ana

tom

y

Educa

tiona

l

Negativ

e co

mment

Good

for sc

hool

Adults

Children

• Parents and children both felt that BODY WORLDS was appropriate for children 13 and under.

• BODY WORLDS was also a valuable learning experience for children.

• Despite the controversy, BODY WORLDS appears to be a family-friendly exhibit.

BODY WORLDS Family Research: Conclusions

END