Sarah Gerson

Sarah, welcome into the program.

When I hear Barbie dolls are great for your brain, a part of me thinks it's a clever marketing campaign.

Let's start here.

What did you set out to test?

And tell me a little bit about what you found.

I didn't have a doll growing up, or I guess I had some stuffed animals, but my blanket I used to have deep conversations with.

And maybe that's why I'm socialized so well.

Let's define something here, something called theory of mind.

Now, I've heard about it before, but for someone who hasn't heard that phrase, what does it mean and what does it mean when it comes to child development?

I might call that empathy.

You might take issue with me labeling it like that.

Maybe that's an oversimplification.

So enter dolls, enter playing with tablets and technology.

What teaches a kid a better theory of mind or what did you find in your research?

So tell me more about this.

Like how much more did they understand the emotions and mental states of others?

Like how much better were dolls than these tablets?

Perhaps this is an oversimplification, but if your kid's having kind of social problems, get them a doll might be a harmless thing to try.

perhaps a future in the condiment industry for your little one.

There's a lot of people that assume dolls are just for girls, like traditional values, whatever.