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Did you hear the one about the marine biologist who walked into a neuroscience lab?

The University of Washington鈥檚 brings together experts in psychology, neuroscience, computer science, radiology and more. Breakthrough research is the institute鈥檚 raison d’锚tre, but it also prioritizes putting its findings into the hands of people who can use it.

And that鈥檚 where the marine biologist comes in. Marley Jarvis, used to study plankton at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico in a submersible, but two years ago she made the switch to I-LABS. 鈥淪cientists follow their curiosity,鈥� she says. (In case you鈥檙e wondering, plankton, the most prevalent animals on earth, don鈥檛 have brains, but .)

Jarvis has a special interest in neuroplasticity, a phenomenon she summarizes with the simple but thrilling statement: 鈥淲e鈥檙e literally shaping our brains as we experience life.鈥� Neuroplasticity, which is especially strong in young children, plays a starring role in the short video that she directed, narrated and illustrated (yes鈥攁 scientist who can draw. ?)

The video came together in seven days. It had to, in order to make the deadline for the American Psychological Association鈥檚 (PsycShorts, for short). Jarvis brought her colleagues together to shine a light on a study by I-LABS鈥� Tal-Chen Rabinowitch and Andrew N. Meltzoff that was published in The Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

The study points to a correlation between 鈥渟ynchronized movement鈥濃�攖hink of activities like marching and clapping together鈥攁nd working cooperatively. The video shows children jumping on a trampoline while holding hands as well as swinging on swings in unison, which is the activity used in Rabinowitch and Meltzoff鈥檚 study. Similar effects chronicled by the study starts as early as 14 months of age.

鈥淕iven the visual nature of the research method,鈥� Jarvis says, 鈥淚t made sense to go beyond words.鈥� At the same time, the limitations of a short video required being selective about what to show and what to leave out. 鈥淭here are 10 different stories you can tell,鈥� she says.

Inspired by the tight deadline, the I-LABS team stuck with simple but engaging drawings and a concise narration. 鈥淭he contest was a good excuse to try something new,鈥� she says. In June, PsycShorts named it .

When asked about the implications of the synchronous movement study, Jarvis says, 鈥淗umans are greatly influenced by the social experiences we have with others. We鈥檙e learning quite a bit about what goes into behavior.鈥� These insights help us move beyond inaccurate and, ultimately, damaging preconceived notions about kids being 鈥済ood鈥� or 鈥渂ad.鈥�

What happens when a child is labeled 鈥渂ad鈥�? A found that 50,000 preschoolers were suspended at least once in 2016, and another 17,000 were expelled. ()

Jarvis recognizes that academics don鈥檛 have all the answers to the problem. 鈥淧arents and teachers have expertise that we don鈥檛,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut we鈥檝e found that research and day-to-day experience really complement each other.鈥�

She views the study as more than a neat trick for preschool classroom management. It demonstrates, she says, that synchronous experience can make us feel like someone else. And that, she says, is the beginning of empathy.

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 社区黑料. Learn more here.