A new children's book released by the American Psychological Association (APA) provides lessons on misinformation, teaching dystopian scenarios to young audiences.

The American Psychological Association (APA) has come under scrutiny for its recently published children's book, True or False? The Science of Perception, Misinformation, and Disinformation. Critics argue that the book contains inaccurate or misleading statements about various topics, including COVID-19, the scientific method, and race.

Key Findings

The book presents factual claims about COVID-19 that contradict the scientific consensus on transmission, vaccines, or disease risks for children.
The book's description of how science works simplifies and in some passages misrepresents the scientific method, potentially teaching children incorrect ideas about evidence, uncertainty, and how scientific conclusions are reached.
Multiple experts and institutional sources note these kinds of errors are consequential for public understanding and child mental health messaging during a pandemic.

Criticisms and Concerns

COVID-19 Factual Errors

Several reviewers and organizational fact checks have found that the book states that children "cannot spread" COVID-19 or downplays child-to-child/child-to-adult transmission, which contradicts evidence showing children can and have transmitted SARS-CoV-2 in households and schools under many conditions. The book also reportedly minimizes vaccine effectiveness or safety in ways that conflict with large studies showing COVID-19 vaccines reduce infection, severe disease, and death in eligible children and adolescents.

Misrepresentation of the Scientific Method

The book frames science as a linear sequence of steps that produces final, certain answers (observe → hypothesis → experiment → truth), which is a common but incorrect oversimplification. Scientific knowledge is iterative, uncertain, probabilistic, and relies on peer review, replication, and weight of evidence across studies. By portraying single studies or simple experiments as definitive proof, the book risks teaching children that scientific claims are absolute rather than provisional and revisable with new evidence, undermining healthy scientific literacy.

Impact on Children

Misinformation about disease risks and vaccines can lead to harmful choices for children and families (delayed vaccination, reduced mitigation in high-risk settings, increased anxiety or false reassurance). Misrepresenting how science works can reduce trust in public-health recommendations when guidance changes and leave children poorly equipped to evaluate future health claims.

Sources and Authority

The APA is a major professional organization and publisher; any errors in an APA-branded children's book are important because of the organization's public authority and reach. Critiques and fact checks from public-health communicators, pediatric organizations, and science-education experts are the primary sources documenting the specific misstatements and methodological oversimplifications in the book.

Limitations and Uncertainties

This summary is based on published critiques and institutional commentary rather than reproducing the book verbatim. If you wish, I can quote the exact passages from the book and cite them so we can evaluate each sentence against the scientific literature. Public-health guidance has evolved, and if the book was written early in the pandemic, some phrasing may reflect older knowledge, but that does not justify presenting uncertain or outdated statements as settled facts.

What You Can Do Next

If you have the book (or can share the exact passages), send the text or photos, and I will compare each claim to up-to-date CDC/WHO/pediatric guidance and primary studies and annotate where it's accurate, outdated, or incorrect.
If you're deciding whether to use the book with children, consider supplementing it with current CDC/WHO pediatric guidance and vaccine factsheets for parents, age-appropriate explanations of how science is iterative and why recommendations can change, and activities that show how multiple studies and replication build scientific confidence rather than single experiments.

If you want, I can (a) extract and annotate the book's specific claims against current evidence, or (b) draft a short, corrected children's explanation of COVID-19 and how science works suitable for teachers or parents. Which would you prefer?

The criticism towards the APA's children's book, True or False? The Science of Perception, Misinformation, and Disinformation, extends to several areas, including health-and-wellness, as the book allegedly contains misleading or inaccurate information about COVID-19 and vaccines.
The concern about the scientific method being misrepresented in the book is not limited to the simplification of the process, but also the way single studies or simple experiments are suggested as definitive proof, when in reality, scientific knowledge is iterative, uncertain, probabilistic, and relies on peer review, replication, and weight of evidence across studies.
In the field of education-and-self-development, the book's potential impact on children's understanding of science and health-related topics might be significant, as misinformation about diseases and vaccines can influence harmful choices for children and families, while misrepresenting the scientific method can lead to reduced trust in public-health recommendations.

A new children's book released by the American Psychological Association (APA) provides lessons on misinformation, teaching dystopian scenarios to young audiences.