Rusty Makes a Goal!

5- and 6-year-olds

This study will take place on a scheduled video call. Clicking on the “Participate Now!” button will send you to an online calendar where you can select a date and time that works for you. The study will be done over Zoom, live with a researcher.

During the call, a researcher will go through videos of animations showing a cartoon character, Rusty, who is trying his best at playing soccer. Rusty sometimes makes goals, and sometimes misses... Your child will be asked simple, open-ended questions about Rusty's performance in the soccer game. At the end of the task, the field gets surrounded by clouds, and we won't be able to see how Rusty plays! Luckily, Rusty's friend is going to help us with an explanation. Using that explanation, your child will be asked to figure out what may have happened behind all the clouds.

How do we figure out the unsaid meaning behind explanations? When trying to figure out why something happened, if we did not directly observe the event, we have to rely on other people's explanations. However, people do not always give complete and detailed explanations. Instead, they may emphasize only certain events, and leave others out. How can we use the incomplete information we get, and reach a complete understanding?

During day-to-day conversation, we know that adults can figure out unseen information without hearing about every single detail. But can kids infer unseen information from explanations? Our study investigates that question.

10 minutes

$5 Amazon.com gift card. We will email you a $5 Amazon.com gift card within a week of participating. You are eligible for the gift card even if your child does not finish, or we can't use the data. Your child just needs to be (1) in the age range for the study, (2) be visible on video during the study, and (3) you need to submit a valid consent form.