Folkbiology Meets Microbiology: A study of conceptual and behavioral change

Abstract

Common childhood illnesses such as colds/flu offer a valuable context to explore Children’s intuitive theories—in this case, folkbiology—and how such folk theories may affect behaviors (e.g., colds/flu prevention). Health education offers a vehicle to introduce the biomedical view that may challenge Children’s folk beliefs about illness and health. It allows us to explore what happens when folkbiology meets microbiology, and what kinds of conceptual and behavioral change might emerge from health education. This investigation can have important applied as well as theoretical implications. Because of the real and perceived risks of misdiagnosing colds/flu as SARS, effective colds/flu prevention becomes more important than ever. Study 1 aimed at characterizing pre-existing beliefs about colds/flu causation/prevention in Chinese school-age children and older adults (as apprentices and experts, respectively, of folk beliefs in their culture) in Hong Kong, China. We interviewed 64 Chinese older adults (ages 60 to 92 years) and 40 8- to 9-year-olds individually about the causes and preventive measures of colds/flu. Study 2 contrasted a prevalent approach to health education, namely the Dos and Don’ts approach (e.g., Wash hands often; Don’t touch your eyes), with a new approach—the Think Biology approach—to health education. Two 4th grade classrooms in Hong Kong were randomly assigned one each to these two approaches for their colds/flu education program. In Study 1, Cultural Consensus Model analyses uncovered robust folk beliefs about colds/flu causation and prevention among children as well as older adults. Nonetheless, in Study 2, the Think Biology approach outperformed the Dos and Don’ts approach in effecting both conceptual and behavioral changes that should help colds/flu prevention. Discussion on conceptual change will focus on the relation between folk beliefs and biomedical beliefs.