Conversations with Ziggy!

For 5- to 6-year olds

This study will take place on a video call, live with a researcher! Clicking on the “Schedule a time to participate” button will send you to an online calendar where you can select a date and time that works for you. During the zoom session, your child will watch videos featuring a friendly alien named Ziggy, who needs your child’s help understanding people. Ziggy will ask your child three questions based on what the people said and how they said it!

In this study, we’re interested in the way how certain phrases are said affects their meaning. We’re specifically interested in how children understand non-literal sentences like sarcasm and verbal irony—sentences where what’s being said isn’t necessarily what it means! Saying a sentence with a certain tone, a specific word, or context can sometimes suggest a completely different interpretation than what’s literally being said. We’re interested in whether and how children can pick up on this aspect of language that adults do effortlessly! As we learn about how children interpret literal and non-literal sentences, we can understand what supports language development and if children rely on different cues than adults.

25 minutes

We will email you a $5 Amazon.com gift card within 1 week. To be eligible for compensation your child must be in the age range for this study, visible in the video chat, and must not have previously done this study.