Figuring Out Social Relationships

For 10- to 11-year-olds

This study will take place on a Zoom video call with a researcher! Clicking on the “Schedule a time to participate” button will take you to an online calendar where you can select a date and time that works best for you. A researcher will tell your child stories about child characters who share different interactions with different social partners, like licking the same ice cream cone, sleeping in the same tent, or blowing bubbles. Then, we will ask your child if they think particular social partners are more likely to comfort the child characters when they become upset.

Past research finds that young humans form expectations about social affiliation: For instance, they expect people who speak the same language to like the same foods and to positively affiliate, as well as expect an agent's saliva-sharing partner (but not a generally positive partner) to comfort the agent when the agent appears in distress. The present study aims to test if children use shared-sleep arrangements to infer care-based social relationships. This line of research will help us better understand how children recognize and understand social relationships, particularly if they use certain sharing behaviors to determine caregiving affiliations.

10 minutes

Participants will receive a $5 Amazon.com gift card for completing the study. The gift card will be sent within 24 hours after the appointment is complete. Only one gift card per participant and the participant must be in the study age range in order to receive the gift card.