What can your child teach us?
Here in the Cognition & Development Lab, we study how specialized information-processing systems in the mind work. You can think of this as studying how software on a computer works. As it turns out, developmental research can help us answer very interesting questions both about how various systems function in the mind of a child (which may be different in many ways from their functioning in the mind of an adult), and about the developmental processes they undergo to acquire their adult state.
Here in the Cognition & Development Lab, we study how specialized information-processing systems in the mind work. You can think of this as studying how software on a computer works. As it turns out, developmental research can help us answer very interesting questions both about how various systems function in the mind of a child (which may be different in many ways from their functioning in the mind of an adult), and about the developmental processes they undergo to acquire their adult state.
What is a typical study like?
In our developmental research we focus on two age groups: babies and young children, and the sorts of studies we do are different with each. Since the verbal abilities of babies aren't well-developed we can’t ask them what they’re thinking, so we have to use different methods. One method is based on a common observation many parents have: your baby tends to look at things he or she finds interesting. Knowing this, we can actually figure out quite a bit about how your baby understands the world from measuring where and for how long he/she is looking. In this sort of study the child sits on the parent’s lap and watches a series of events in a video animation or a puppet show. Meanwhile, video cameras or assistants measure how long the infant looks at each event.
In our developmental research we focus on two age groups: babies and young children, and the sorts of studies we do are different with each. Since the verbal abilities of babies aren't well-developed we can’t ask them what they’re thinking, so we have to use different methods. One method is based on a common observation many parents have: your baby tends to look at things he or she finds interesting. Knowing this, we can actually figure out quite a bit about how your baby understands the world from measuring where and for how long he/she is looking. In this sort of study the child sits on the parent’s lap and watches a series of events in a video animation or a puppet show. Meanwhile, video cameras or assistants measure how long the infant looks at each event.
The set-up of a typical infant study.
For example, in one series of studies we're examining what visual information 5-month-old babies use to determine which entities are animate and what inferences they make about animates. For a sample of an animation we use in one of these studies, please click here.
In another series of studies we’re examining how preschool-aged children reason about other people’s mental states – beliefs and desires about events in a specific situation. Because children in this age group are more able to tell us what they’re thinking, we can directly ask them questions about what happens in a story or video animation. For a sample of an animation we use in these studies, please click here.
After observing a sequence like the one above, we may ask children questions such as:
Where will the boy look for his bunny first?
Why will the boy look for his bunny there?
Where was the bunny at the beginning of the story?
Where is the bunny right now?
Additionally, as in the studies with infants, we sometimes measure how long children look at different locations during the sequence of events.
If you would like to learn more please contact us at 805-893-8018 or at CDL_Study@psych.ucsb.edu.
In addition, if you would like to participate in one of our studies with your child please fill-out and email the sign-up form below to CDL_Study@psych.ucsb.edu. We will then be able to contact you in the future if we are recruiting children of a particular age group for one of our developmental studies.
SIGN-UP FORM
DRIVING DIRECTIONS
UCSB CAMPUS MAP
GOLETA AREA MAP
In addition, if you would like to participate in one of our studies with your child please fill-out and email the sign-up form below to CDL_Study@psych.ucsb.edu. We will then be able to contact you in the future if we are recruiting children of a particular age group for one of our developmental studies.
SIGN-UP FORM
DRIVING DIRECTIONS
UCSB CAMPUS MAP
GOLETA AREA MAP
