0-3 year olds

WM Goal

Age: 5-7 months old

Description: In this study, we are interested in what babies remember about objects when the objects are hidden from view. We will show your infant two objects that will be hidden behind two screens. Then, we’ll lift one of the screens to show either the object that we hid there originally, or that the objects have magically swapped places. We’ll measure how long babies look at each of the different outcomes.

Length: This study takes about 10-20 minutes, and visits tend to take a bit longer just to ensure that you and your family have time to get comfortable in the lab.

Payment: Your child will receive a prize for their help. We also provide free parking here on campus, and can provide babysitting if you need to bring another child.

Interested? Great! You can call us at (617)-358- 1830 or email us at devmind@bu.edu to schedule a visit!

Snacky ToM

Age: 11-14 months old

Description: This is a very quick study that can be done during the same visit as our Concepts study. With this study, we’re interested in how other people’s beliefs influence babies’ memories. Your child will play a game in which s/he will watch some items get hidden in two buckets, and then get to crawl towards whichever bucket is more appealing.

Length: This study is quite quick and takes about 2 minutes, and we tend to run it along with our Concepts study (which takes about 20-30 minutes).

Payment: Your child will receive a prize for their help. We also provide free parking here on campus, and can provide babysitting if you need to bring another child.

Interested? Great! You can call us at (617)-358- 1830 or email us at devmind@bu.edu to schedule a visit!

Baby Toy Box

Age: 20 -24 months old

Description: In this study, we are interested in toddlers’ ability to anticipate and plan for future events. During the task, toddlers will watch a brief video (5 minutes) of an experimenter and puppet interacting with a box that dispenses toys. We will measure where your child looks and the duration of their looking behaviors throughout the video. You will be with your child the entire time.

Length: This study takes about 10-15 minutes, and visits tend to take a bit longer just to ensure that you and your family have time to get comfortable in the lab.

Payment: Your child will receive a prize for their help. We also provide free parking here on campus, and can provide babysitting if you need to bring another child.

Interested? Great! You can call us at (617)-358- 1830 or email us at devmind@bu.edu to schedule a visit!

Adding Machine

Age: 20 -25 months old

Description: In this study we are interested in how older infants understand numbers. We test their representation of the object quantities by hiding a few objects in a box and asking your child to search for it.

Length: This study takes about 10-15 minutes, and visits tend to take a bit longer just to ensure that you and your family have time to get comfortable in the lab.

Payment: Your child will receive a prize for their help. We also provide free parking here on campus, and can provide babysitting if you need to bring another child.

Interested? Great! You can call us at (617)-358- 1830 or email us at devmind@bu.edu to schedule a visit!

Magic Box

Age: 24 -60 months old (2-5 years!)

Description: In this study, we are interested in how children plan and think about future events. During the task, children will learn a series of actions involving a “magic box”. Children will then receive prizes for engaging in the correct actions learned. 

Length: This study takes about 10-15 minutes, and visits tend to take a bit longer just to ensure that you and your family have time to get comfortable in the lab.

Payment: Your child will receive a prize for their help. We also provide free parking here on campus, and can provide babysitting if you need to bring another child.

Interested? Great! You can call us at (617)-358- 1830 or email us at devmind@bu.edu to schedule a visit!

Treasure Map

Age: 36 -48 months old (3 years!)

Description: In this study we are interested in how children use memories to plan. During the task, your child will learn how to retrieve colored beads from a “magic bead box”. They will then use their memories of how the box works to help a stuffed animal (“Monkey”) collect beads to finish treasure maps.

Length: This study takes about 10-15 minutes, and visits tend to take a bit longer just to ensure that you and your family have time to get comfortable in the lab.

Payment: Your child will receive a prize for their help. We also provide free parking here on campus, and can provide babysitting if you need to bring another child.

Interested? Great! You can call us at (617)-358- 1830 or email us at devmind@bu.edu to schedule a visit!

 

4-10 year olds

Button Party

Age: 4-6 year olds

Description: In this study we are interested in understanding how precise children can represent numbers. Your child will first play a computer game where we would ask them to choose the winner with more buttons. Some trials will be easy to choose, while in other trials, the number of the buttons between the two will be hard to tell. We want to know how well your child can distinguish the two quantity in different situations. In the second part, your child will play a memory game where they would see some animals hidden and are then asked to point to their location.

Length:  This study takes about 20-25 minutes, and visits tend to take a bit longer just to ensure that you and your family have time to get comfortable in the lab.

Payment: Your child will receive a prize for their help. We also provide free parking here on campus, and can provide babysitting if you need to bring another child.

Interested? Great! You can call us at (617)-358- 1830 or email us at devmind@bu.edu to schedule a visit!

Number Crunchers

Age: 6 year olds

Description: In this study we are interested in children’s ability to spread attention. During this task, your child would play a computer game where we would ask them to identify numbers, some of which will be highlighted to grab attention. We want to know if their attention spreads from the highlighted number, so we will ask them to identify numbers that were beside the one that was highlighted. The game is called Number Crunchers and your child will be told the goal of the game is to feed Monsters their favorite numbers.

Length:  This study takes about 10-15 minutes, and visits tend to take a bit longer just to ensure that you and your family have time to get comfortable in the lab.

Payment: Your child will receive a prize for their help. We also provide free parking here on campus, and can provide babysitting if you need to bring another child.

Interested? Great! You can call us at (617)-358- 1830 or email us at devmind@bu.edu to schedule a visit!

Waiting Game

Age: 6-7 year olds

Description: In this study we are interested in how children make decisions about the future. In this study, children will play a computer game where they are helping a character collect snacks for a party. To get a snack, children have to wait at different “snack spots” throughout the game. Sometimes they have to wait just a short time before a snack appears in the snack spot, sometimes longer. Their goal is to collect the most snacks before the character gets to a party. Your child will decide how long they are willing to wait for each snack to help the character in the game.

Length:  This study takes about 10-15 minutes, and visits tend to take a bit longer just to ensure that you and your family have time to get comfortable in the lab.

Payment: Your child will receive a prize for their help. We also provide free parking here on campus, and can provide babysitting if you need to bring another child.

Interested? Great! You can call us at (617)-358- 1830 or email us at devmind@bu.edu to schedule a visit!

Parent-Child Teaching Study

Age: 5-8 year olds

Description: In this study we are looking at how parents and children learn together. We will talk to you and your child separately about living things and mechanical processes, asking both of you for your beliefs and knowledge about the topics. We will also ask you to complete a short interactive activity with your child about one of these topics.

Length: The study only takes about one hour.

Payment: Your child will receive a prize for their help. We also provide free parking here on campus, and can provide babysitting if you need to bring another child.

Interested? Great! Schedule a time to come in, or call/email us at 617-358-1738 or childlab@bu.edu!

Subjective SES

Age: 5-10 years old

Description: In this study, children will play a game where they get to choose how many candies to keep for themselves and how many to share with another little boy or girl. Then they will be asked questions about other children who are rich or poor and asked to think about the similarities and differences between these two children. We are investigating how concepts of wealth inequality may influences preferences for fairness or generosity. 

Length: 20-30 minutes

Payment: Your child will receive a prize for their help. You will also receive free parking here on campus, and can provide babysitting if you need to bring another child.

Interested? Call us at(617) 358-7236, or email us at sdll@bu.edu.