Experimenting With Kids by Shaun Gallagher

Author:Shaun Gallagher [Gallagher, Shaun]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-05-05T00:00:00+00:00

27

Brain Blocks the Pain

AGE RANGE: 3 to 5 years

RESEARCH AREAS: Perception, distraction, pain

THE EXPERIMENT

For this experiment, you’ll need a video game that your child can play one-handed. You might use an app on a tablet or a phone, or a gaming system with a joystick. You’ll also need to fill a large bowl with chilly water. It should be around 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). Finally, you’ll need a stopwatch for keeping time.

Invite your child to complete a chilly challenge. Explain that the challenge involves seeing how long she can keep her hand in cold water. Make sure she understands that she does not need to complete the challenge if she does not want to, and that she can withdraw her hand anytime she wants.

If she agrees, direct her to place her unclenched, nondominant hand wrist-deep into the chilly water and keep it there for as long as she can stand it. Use the stopwatch to time her performance, from the moment her hand is submerged to when she withdraws it. Write down her time. We’ll call this the baseline score.

Next, invite her to complete the same challenge while watching a TV show, and write down her time again. We’ll call this the passive distraction score. Finally, invite her to complete the challenge one more time, but while playing the video game with her other hand. Write down her time for this third attempt. We’ll call this the active distraction score.

If, during any of the three trials, she keeps her hand in for more than four minutes, you can stop the trial. Be sure to warm your child’s hand fully after each trial.

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