What Babies Learn From Their Caregivers

For babies from 8 months and 0 days to 9 months and 30 days

This study will take place on a video call, live with a researcher! 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. Before the study, we'll ask you to make a short 15-second video using your webcam. For this video, you’ll need to talk briefly and turn your head. If you agree to participate, we'll send you instructions on making the video, which should take under 10 minutes to create. In this Zoom-based study, your baby will watch you and someone else turning your head to look at objects. We’re curious about whether babies may better understand the goals of their caregivers.

To best cooperate with other people, children need to understand what others want. What are babies’ abilities to make sense of others’ actions and goals? Past research has mostly presented babies with actors who are strangers to them. Would babies better track the actions of their caregivers? This study will shed light on what babies understand of others' actions, which may support their social interactions with others.

30 minutes

Children will receive a $5 online gift card and a certificate of participation, within 24 hours of participating over Zoom. To receive the gift card and certificate, the child must be within the age range for our study, and the parents and guardians must have created the video by 12 pm EST the day before the study session. Each child will only receive one gift card. We can compensate participants with an Amazon US gift card, or with an alternative online gift card (e.g., Target, etc.). We'll ask you about what gift cards work for your family, and we'll work with our lab manager to get you a suitable gift card.