What do Chinese psychology majors know about brain research?

Abstract

Background

China has recently emerged as a neuroscience leader. Given the absence of undergraduate neuroscience programs at most Chinese universities, future neuroscientists are likely to be recruited from psychology departments. Consequently, the question of whether these students possess neuroliteracy, an understanding about the brain and its functions, that may support their future training is an interesting topic for investigation.

Methods

We administered a neuroliteracy survey to a sample of undergraduate psychology majors enrolled in Chinese public universities (n = 546).

Results

Students were more accurate when identifying true statements, especially those related to plasticity, but performed worse when evaluating the authenticity of false statements. News reading was associated with higher overall neuroliteracy, and higher accuracy on false statements.

Conclusions

This is the first investigation of neuroliteracy conducted in a student sample in China, with implications for the design of undergraduate psychology programs to support the development of this competency.