Monitor on Psychology - July/August 2012

Upfront

Psychology exhibit draws big crowds at USA Science Expo

More than 2,500 children and adults learned about cognitive development research at “The Science of Kids: Ask, Play, Learn!” an exhibit sponsored by APA and the Museum of Science, Boston, at the USA Science and Engineering Festival Expo in Washington, D.C. The event, held April 28 and 29, featured 500 exhibits sponsored by academic institutions, government agencies, professional societies and corporations.

“The Expo was a great setting for showing off psychology as a science to a large audience. We gave people an idea of how psychologists use rigorous, creative methods to address questions about human behavior and development,” says Howard Kurtzman, PhD, deputy executive director of APA’s Science Directorate.

The exhibit featured two tasks from the laboratory of MIT psychologist Laura Schulz, PhD: one from studies of how children think about physical objects and the other from studies of how children make inferences on the basis of language. Schulz is a collaborator in the Museum’s Living Laboratory, where Boston area child development researchers conduct studies and discuss their work with the public.

Graduate students studying cognition and development at local universities (Catholic University, George Mason University, Georgetown University, Howard University, and University of Maryland) served as interpreters at the exhibit.