Tell Me About It Too!

14 - 24 month old toddlers

Your toddler will watch some short scenes (about 30 seconds long) and will be under the impression that you (the adult) missed some of that scene. Your child will then be asked to tell you what happened during the portion of the scene that you "missed".

As adults, we communicate information selectively: We mostly tell people things they don’t already know, and we avoid referring to topics that are common knowledge. What about when children first learn to speak? Young toddlers start with very limited vocabularies. At first, they only produce one or two words in each utterance. Many things might affect what toddlers decide to say, including how familiar a word is, or how interested the child is in the topic. Still, we wondered if even toddlers just learning to talk might, like adults, try to communicate information their audience does not know.

15 minutes

After you finish the study, we will email you a $5 Amazon.com gift card per child within seven days. To be eligible for the gift card (1) your child must be in the age range for this study, (2) you need to submit a valid consent statement, and (3) we need to see that there is a child with you.