(They did the latter study through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP).)
The researchers ran the riddle by two groups: 197 BU psychology students and 103 children, ages 7 to 17, from Brookline summer camps. In research conducted by Mikaela Wapman (CAS’14) and Deborah Belle, a College of Arts & Sciences psychology professor, even young people and self-described feminists tended to overlook the possibility that the surgeon in the riddle was a she. But did you also guess the surgeon could be the boy’s mother? If not, you’re part of a surprising majority. If you guessed that the surgeon is the boy’s gay, second father, you get a point for enlightenment, at least outside the Bible Belt. The son is rushed to the hospital just as he’s about to go under the knife, the surgeon says, “I can’t operate-that boy is my son!” Explain.
If you haven’t heard it, give yourself time to answer before reading past this paragraph: a father and son are in a horrible car crash that kills the dad.
