Data Safety

Dates: Feb 2023 - March 2024

Overview

Children have large digital footprints. Their activity online, including information about their identities is turned into data that could be shared with other users and companies. Digital platforms should not be sharing information with others without their permission. In this study, we are interested in learning at what age children appreciate that apps sharing users’ personal information without permission is a violation of that users’ rights. Children see a story about a peer who plays a game that shares the peer’s personal information, such as their name and address, with other kids. We then ask children if they think the game is “nice” or “mean”. We predicted that although younger children may not understand who should be in charge of their data, they understand that their information should be protected.

Results

We found that by age 7/8, children evaluated a game sharing personal information more negatively (less nice and less desirable to play), than a game that does not. Younger children (age 5) did not view a game that shares personal information any differently than one that does not. Older children cared a great deal about permission or consent and viewed information sharing as acceptable when the user gave permission. We are currently preparing this data for publication so check back in a year for the official paper!

See this poster for a summary of the results.

Data Transfer Beliefs

Dates: Mar 2023 - Present

Overview

Some online apps require the transfer of personal information from the user to the app but little is known about how children represent this “transfer”. In this study, children are told a story about a character who shares personal information, such as their address, with an online game. We then ask children what they think the game is allowed to do with the information. We also ask what they think the character is allowed to do with the information. Children are shown different types of actions and asked to make judgments about them. We predict that children will think the character has greater rights over the information than the game. We also predict that children will deem actions that are lower risk (such as looking at information) as more permissible than actions that are higher risk (such as selling information).

Results

So far we are finding that children ages 8-11 years old will judge that apps should be able to do less with a user data’s than the user can. This includes sharing it with others and selling it. However, unexpectedly, children also think that people generally should not sell their data. We are exploring this finding further to see if its due to confusion on our task or truly reflects beliefs about the morality of selling one’s information.

This project is still in progress. See this paper for a summary of current results.

Social Media Sharing

Dates: Oct 2023 - Present

Overview

Social media has become a part of everyday life for many people. Parents often share information about their children but we don’t know a lot about children’s perspectives on such sharing. In this study, children and parents are told a story about mothers who use social media to post videos of their children and of themselves. We manipulate whether the posts are positive or negative and who they are about. Across scenarios, we ask children and parents if the posts should remain up or be taken down and we are interested in how these factors (valance and content) affect their decision making. We think talking about these concerns is important in navigating social media usage and also helps support parent-child relationships when online.

In a follow-up study we are currently looking at how the motive for posting content on social media, to make money or for entertainment, influences children’s reasoning about the ethics of posting.

Results

This project is still in progress. See this poster for a summary of current results.

Museum Learning

Dates: Jan 2024 - Present

Photo Sharing

Dates: April 2024 - Present

Overview

People are likely less interested in learning about a topic that they think they know a lot about. In this way, how much we think we know likely affects our motivation to learn. But, research suggests that people often do not know as much as they believe they do. This research project wants to understand how (and whether) we can increase visitors desire to learn about science in museums by revealing such thinking errors (i.e., over estimates of knowledge). Children (10-12 years old) and adult museum visitors will be asked about how they think about exhibits, and how interested they are in learning more about the exhibit after being asked. When describing how an exhibit works, we predict people will realize what they don't know (i.e., realize they have a thinking error) and will then want to learn more to fill in the gaps in their knowledge.

Results

This project is still in progress. Check back in December 2024 for more results!

Overview

Many apps allow children to take pictures. However, little is known about how young children think about apps taking pictures. In this study, children ages 5- to 8-years-old are shown a person and a cartoon version of the same person. We ask children if the app should be allowed to take pictures of the person or the cartoon character in different settings, like a kitchen or living room. We want to understand whether children think about privacy when sharing pictures with apps. We predict that children will think that it is a violation of privacy for the app to take pictures of the person, but not the cartoon. We also predict that children will think that certain settings, like a bedroom are more private than other settings, like a kitchen, and will judge that taking pictures in more private settings is less permissible.

Results

This project is still in progress. Check back in August 2024 for our first findings!