Lessons Learned by a Basic Scientist:
How To Succeed in Business (of the
Policy World) without really trying
PAT LEVITT, PH.D.
•ANNETTE SCHAFFER ESKIND CHAIR, VANDERBILT KENNEDY CENTER FOR
RESEARCH ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
•DIRECTOR, ZILKHA NEUROGENETIC INSTITUTE, KECK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
OF USC, CHAIRMAN, DEPT. CELL & NEUROBIOLOGY, PROVOST PROFESSOR OF
NEUROSCIENCE, PSYCHIATRY & PHARMACY
•MEMBER, NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD
The Mismatch Between
Opportunity and Investment
Brain's "Malleability"
Spending on Health,
Education and Welfare
0
3
10
Age
70
Rates of Return to Human Development
Investment Across all Ages
8
6
Pre-school Programs
Return
Per
$
Invested 4
School
R
Job Training
2
PreSchool
0
School
6
Post School
18
Age
Carneiro, Heckman, Human Capital Policy, 200
Susan Bales, M.A.
The Child Development
Challenge: Translating
Science for Public
Understanding
Perceived Public Support is a Strong
Influence on Policymaker Behavior
“If we could find a way to deal with 70 percent of people that are
not the 15 on the left and not the 15 on the right that believe no
matter what the information is, they're ready. If we can find a
way to get that other 70 percent informed and activated, that
would solve a lot of problems right away because I don't care
whether you're a right wing politician or a left wing politician,
when you go to your primary election [you listen].”
“Objectively, you do the right amount of education, do the right
amount of meeting and greeting and everything else. That ain't
what it's about. It's about where the political will is and how
much passion there is around the issue by a wide enough
audience that these guys will say this train is going and I don't
want to be off the train.”
AZ Legislators
Why doesn’t the Public take
responsibility for social problems?
• People are selfish, small-minded, uncaring
• Or, it’s a cognitive rather than a moral failure – they don’t
understand what their responsibility could be
• Persuasive communications cannot depend on simply
putting information in front of people, because when
communications is inadequate, people default to the
“pictures in their heads”
• Communications must change the lens through which they
see the information
• When communications is effective, people can see an issue
from a different perspective
The Questions We Ask
• How does the public think about a particular social or
political issue?
• What is the public discourse on the issue?
• How does this dialogue influence and constrain public
choices?
• How can an issue be framed to evoke a different way of
thinking, one that illuminates alternative policy choices?
Frames Are…
“Organizing principles that are socially
shared and persistent over time, that
work symbolically to meaningfully
structure the social world.”
Reese, Gandy and Grant, Framing Public Life. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2001.
See also:
Goffman, E. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Tannen, D. (ed). 1993. Framing in Discourse. New York: Oxford University
Press.
“We can define framing as the process of
culling a few elements of perceived reality
and assembling a narrative that highlights
connections among them to promote a
particular interpretation. Fully developed
frames typically perform four functions:
problem definition, causal analysis, moral
judgment, and remedy promotion”.
(Entman, 1993, 2004)
Where We Get Our Cues:
Elements of the Frame
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Values
Visuals
Messengers
Context
Numbers
Metaphors
Simplifying Models
Stories
Tone
“Finding some familiar element
causes us to activate the story
that is labeled by that familiar
element, and we understand
the new story as if it were an
exemplar of that old element.”
“Understanding means finding a
story you already know and
saying, ‘Oh yeah, that one.”
“Once we have found (the) story,
we stop processing.”
Roger C. Schank, “Tell Me A Story:
Narrative and Intelligence,”
Northwestern University Press, 1995.
FrameWorks Research Base:
Strategic Frame Analysis™
Voters
• 30 focus groups in 15 states
• 175 cognitive interviews in 9 states
• 500 “talk back” interviews re: simplifying models
• Experimental survey with 2,000 registered voters
Legislators
• 6 focus groups in 3 states
• 40 cognitive interviews in 5 states
Business leaders
• 10 cognitive interviews
• Experimental survey with 2,000 business owners
Media
• Content analysis of 11,000 local news stories
What the Public Sees Regarding Child
Development: The Black Box
Successful
child
Fate
Free will
Parents
Genes
Environment
Black
Box
Unsuccessful
child
Something about the brain
Only for scientists
Very Complicated
Everything matters
Momma knows best
Bad parents
Private not public issue
We turned out OK
Self-made
Child
Family
Bubble
Development is
automatic
Discipline = focus
Stress is good for you
Leave it alone
Schools
Hurried Child
Fancy Parents
Flash cards in cribs
Safety
Community = Predator
Control and contain
Opportunity
Children = future
Begins in school
Physical = Focus
ECD Focus Groups Default
Families are Responsible
• “I think one parent at least in the first five years until they get to school
ought to be at home because that sets the tone for the kids.” (Virginia
man)
• “I think they absorb. Through three and five -- I know my son absorbs
just everything that came around him. (New Jersey woman)
Individuals are Responsible
• “The parents are so protective now compared to what they were 20, 30, 40
years ago…I did a lot of things on my own. When we played sports, there
was no parental involvement. We didn't have to be ferried, driven to a
place where we played. We were independent… I think this holds back the
development of children.” (Boston man)
Safety is the Main Concern
• “I guess you’re looking for clean and safe facilities, and the right number
of staff per children, and you’re looking for activities that help the children
grow intellectually rather than make sure they stand in line and be quiet.”
(Virginia woman)
How the Media Frames Child Issues
•
•
•
•
•
Predominance of stories on crime and health
In health stories, the dominant frame is child
safety (e.g., seat belts)
Only 13% of stories address systemic issues
Only 3% look at development
Dominant frame is “the imperiled child” or child as
“precious object”
UCLA Center for Communications and Community, Content
analysis of local news, 11,000 stories, July 2000, 3 affiliates in 6
cities
Veterans of Perceptions and Messaging
Advocates
• Kids are very complex
• Everything counts
• Children are made for
learning
• Infants become persons at
a very early age
• The brain is not developed
at birth
• Parenting is difficult
• Parents are teachers
• Parents are students
• Trained coaches are needed
for parents
• All parents are good
• Parents are experts
Experts
"The ability to inhibit a
response one is all set to
perform, sometimes called
effortful control, has been of
special interest to researchers
who seek to understand how
individual differences in
children's tendencies to
respond to stressful or
exciting events affect the
growth of emotion regulation.
Effortful control is one
component of a larger set of
inhibitory competencies,
termed 'executive functions',
discussed later..." N2N
What Do We Know?
• People have minimal access to a working model of
child development.
• When considered at all, it is a closed private system.
• There are strong entrenched frames that get in the
way of development: family autonomy, safety,
individualism.
• The reframes currently in use – school readiness, etc. - are not yielding the desired result.
• Some reframes – future, prosperity – have potential to
move public opinion in right direction and prime school
readiness for them.
The Central Causal Story
Emotional
Development
Interaction
Brain Architecture
Social
Development
Cognitive
Development
The Core Story
1.
Child development is a foundation for community
development and economic development, as capable
children become the foundation of a prosperous and
sustainable society (Prosperity).
2.
The basic architecture of the brain is constructed through
an ongoing process that begins before birth and
continues into adulthood (Brain Architecture).
3.
Brains are built from the bottom up (Skill Begets Skill).
4.
Interaction of genes and experience shapes the
developing brain and relationships are the active
ingredient in this Serve and Return process (Serve and
Return).
5.
Cognitive, emotional, and social capacities are
inextricably intertwined, and learning, behavior and
physical and mental health are inter-related over
the life course (Can’t Do One).
6.
Toxic stress damages the developing brain and leads
to problems in learning, behavior, and increased
susceptibility to physical and mental illness over
time (Toxic Stress).
7.
Brain plasticity and the ability to change behavior
decrease over time and getting it right early is less
costly, to society and individuals, than trying to fix it
later (Pay Now).
The Reframing Challenge
• To explain the science in such a way that it…..
• Redirects attention away from the default positions….
• By identifying values and explanations that make the
societal, not individual goals, obvious ……
• And by creating Simplifying Models that serve to explain
how development works…..
• And explain the consequences of inaction…..
• And can be shown to attach to policy thinking
What are Simplifying Models?
•
A kind of metaphorical frame that both captures the essence of a
scientific concept, and has a high capacity for spreading through a
population.
•
An explanation that reduces a complex problem to a simple,
concrete analogy or metaphor contributes to understanding by
helping people organize information into a clear picture in their
heads, including facts and ideas previously learned but not
organized in a coherent way.
•
Once this analogical picture has been formed, it becomes the basis
for new reasoning about the topic.
See Dorothy Holland & Naomi Quinn, Cultural Models in Language and
Thought, Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Analogies in the Science Classroom
“the heart is a pump”
“the eye is a camera”
“the cell is a factory”
“the kidney is a waste filter”
“photosynthesis is like baking bread”
“an electric circuit is like a water conduit”
“the brain is a computer”
Glynn et al. (1995), Teaching Science With Analogies: A Strategy For
Constructing Knowledge, Learning Science in The Schools: Research
Reforming Practice
Simplifying Model for ECD: Brain Architecture
The early years of life
matter because early
experiences affect the
architecture of the
maturing brain. As it
emerges, the quality of
that architecture
establishes either a
sturdy or a fragile
foundation for all of the
development and
behavior that follows --and getting things right
the first time is easier
than trying to fix them
later.
Early Experiences Influence
Brain Architecture and Function
Extreme Early Experiences Can
Dramatically Disrupt Brain Architecture
16 days
50 days
50 days: exposed
to early noise
Source: Chang & Merzenich (2003)
Exposure to PCBs During Development
Can Disrupt Brain Architecture
control
PCB developmental
exposure
Source: Kennet et al. (2006)
Brain Architecture Model Testing
Recruitment and Sample
• 400 subjects
• passers-by in public settings (roughly 80)
• ads placed in local web sites (roughly 120)
• graduate and undergraduate students (roughly 100)
• help from local business leaders (Texas Program for
Society and Health, James Baker Institute, Rice University)
(roughly 100)
• broad diversity in terms of gender, ethnicity, age, and
educational background; parents and nonparents
Comparative Frame Effects
Q: How does growing up in
poverty affect a child’s school
readiness?
A: I would say in a lot of cases, I
wouldn’t say in all cases,
growing up in poverty would
hinder them, but I guess in
some cases it would hinder
them, sort of being ready to
get to school as knowing, I
guess maybe kids who are not
in poverty growing up do you
have an advantage, as far as
they probably know a little
more when they do start
school than children who are
raised in poverty.
Q: How does growing up in
poverty affect brain
architecture?
A: I believe because you’re
stressed a lot because you
have a lot of stress; usually
parents that do not make a
lot of money are usually
under a lot of stress, so that
makes the child be under
stress as well, also that
would affect I guess the
growth of the brain.
Interaction as Serve and Return
Experts are learning more and more about how interactions with
other people affect the development of babies’ brains. It turns out
that healthy development of brain architecture depends a lot on a
kind of interaction experts call Serve and Return, based on an
analogy from games like tennis and volleyball. Serve and Return
happens when young children instinctively reach out for
interaction, through babbling, facial expressions, words, gestures,
cries, etc. and adults respond by getting in sync and doing the
same kind of babbling, gesturing, and so forth. Another
important aspect of Serve and Return is that it works best with
adults who are familiar to the child, like familiar partners. Young
children need many of these interactions per day, since they are
so critical development, and have effects on everything from the
chemicals in the brain to physical structures and connections
there.
Secure Relationships Calm Children’s
Stress Hormone Response
.3
Increase in
Cortisol
.2
.1
0
Secure
Insecure
Attachment Relationship
-.1
Source: Nachmias et al. (1996)
Sensitive Care Calms Children’s Stress
Hormone Response in Parent’s Absence
.3
Increase in
Cortisol
.2
.1
0
High
-.1
Low
Sensitivity/Responsiveness of Caregiver
Source: Nachmias et al. (1996)
Experience Affects Stress Response for a Lifetime!
Stress Response
Restraint
Time
Source: Meaney et al. (200?)
How is the influence of early
experience maintained for a
lifetime?
In part, through ‘epigenetics’…..
and it’s is really powerful
Early Experiences Can Transmit
Across Generations
Maternal diet change
during pregnancy
causes changes to
offspring’s
fur color,
obesity,
and cancer risk
in genetically
identical mice.
Source: Jirtle & Skinner (2007)
How Experience Influences Genes
CH3 CH3
Stress Response
Restraint
CH3
CH3
Glucocorticoid receptor gene
Time
Source: Meaney et al. (200?)
Early Childhood Stress Influences
Developmental Outcomes
Positive
Tolerable
Toxic
 Important to development & in the context
of stable and supportive relationships
 Potentially disruptive, but buffered by
supportive relationships & safe
environments
 Disrupts brain architecture, increases the
risk of stress-related physical and mental
illness
Source: Pollok &
Kistler (2002)
Extreme Neglect Diminishes Brain Power
3-5 Hz
Institutionalized
Never
Institutionalized
Source: C. Nelson (2008)
6-9 Hz
10-18 Hz
Persistent Stress Changes Brain Architecture
Typical neuron with many
connections
Normal
Chronic
stress
Neuron damaged by
toxic stress – fewer
connections
Prefrontal Cortex and
Hippocampus
Source: C. Nelson (2008)
Bock et al Cer Cort 15:802 (2005)
Research Says that
Remediation and Prevention
ARE Possible
Early Intervention Remediates Early Adversity
% Time Spent
Self-Comforting
40%
Surrogate mother
at 2 months
No surrogate
mother
Surrogate mother
at 1 month
30%
20%
10%
Normal
1
3
5
7
Monkey’s Age (months)
9
11
13
Source: Knudsen et al. (2006)
Delayed Intervention Harms Development
Bucharest Early Intervention Program
100
IQ/DQ
(Mean)
Tested at 3 1/2 Years Old
Tested at 4 1/2 Years Old
“normal” range
90
“normal” range
80
70
60
0-18 18-24 24-30 30+
0-18 18-24 24-30 30+
Age of placement in foster care (months)
Source: Nelson et al. (2007)
Effects on Salience
“I think what really gets me from the study is that it
could actually have a chemical or biological or some
sort of impact on the child’s brain. … Behavior is one
thing, and attitude and personality is one thing, but if it
can really negatively impact … the chemistry and the
makeup of the brain – you can damage that that early –
that’s really serious. That’s more than just having a bad
personality, that’s really screwing up a kid.” Talk Back
Informant
What Have We Built?
Potential Advantages
Questions Remaining
• Unifies scientists’
messages
• Makes science
understandable to
public
• Easily remembered, and
repeated
• Can teach about ECD
without distorting
• What must you include?
• But does it elevate
policy thinking and
preferences?
• Are all models equal?
• Does it overcome
resistance to
investment?
The Core Story Framing Experiment
•
•
•
•
•
Prosperity
Pay Now
Can’t Do One
Skill Begets Skill
Evaluation Science
• Brain Architecture
• Effectiveness Factors
• 1100/4000 subjects,
June 2007
Effects of Core Story
Frame Effects from Experimental Survey June 2007:
• Exposure to any part of the core story enhances policy support
• Can’t Do One has the greatest effect
• Prosperity/Pay Now has next greatest effect
• Men and people who placed a low priority on child well-being were
most affected
• Models are most powerful when aligned with principles, not
asymmetric
• Conventional wisdom about frame effects should be questioned:
business leaders responded more robustly to a developmental
frame than a “just the facts” frame
Putting It All Together….
• If our society is to prosper in the future, we will need to
make sure that all children have the opportunity to develop
intellectually, socially and If emotionally. VALUE
• But science tells us that many children’s futures are
undermined when stress damages the early brain
architecture. That stress may result from family tensions
over a lost job or death in the family. That stress makes
babies’ brains release a chemical that stunts cell growth.
SCIENCE
• When communities make family mental health services
available so that early interventions can take place, they
put in place a preventive system that catches children
before they fall. SOLUTION
Closing the Gap – Using What We
Know To Inform What We Do
Factors that Influence Policy Decisions
Public/Media Perception
(free will; legality; excesses)
What Science Tells Us
(maternal health;
fetal:maternal interactions;
environment of relationshps
brain architecture & chemistry)
Policy Makers
(public perception; family bubble;
child welfare)
Strategies to Affect Public Policy
•Develop simplifying frames of factors that
impact child development
(Drugs; Toxic Stress; Nutrition; Genes; Relationships)
PRENATAL & EARLY
CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
•Develop key working partnerships
(National Conference of State Legislatures;
Childhood-Focused Private Foundations)
•Engage scientists in providing impartial testimony–
(“What science tells us”; “Just the facts”)
•Scientists must do more work with print and video media –
(Tell a core story)
Legislative successes….it’s personal!
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
•Legislative Working Group (AZ, IL, KS, MA, NE,
OK, SC, WA, WI)
•Technical assistance for early childhood policy
issues in states
•Summits for Legislature/Leadership training
•National Forum on Early Childhood Program evals
Partners: J&J Pediatric Institute; Frameworks Institute; Buffet Foundation; Gates
Foundation
http://www.developingchild.net
http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu
www.frameworksinstitute.org
(c) FrameWorks Institute 2008
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