Listen and Find Panoo!

For 3 and 4 year olds who love hide-and-seek

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. During the zoom session, your child will be exposed to recorded audio that introduces Panoo, a little toy animal. Panoo will hide in different places around the screen, and your child will look for him. Sometimes, your child will need to find Panoo when there is another toy that looks just like him, and your child will get a hint for which one is Panoo, such as “Panoo is not wet!”.

In this study, we investigate how our young language learners use language to identify characters on the screen. We use different types of sentences, some very concrete and some using more abstract language like 'not' or 'I wish'. While children start using these words around ages 2 and 3, we don't know yet if they understand what they mean. In this experiment, we compare your child's understanding of sentences like "Panoo is wet/dry" with their understanding of more complex utterances like "Panoo is not wet" and "I wish Panoo was dry". This study will help us determine around which age children acquire an understanding of the abstract words 'wish' and 'not' and shed light on when they achieve the important milestone of comprehending situations outside of the here and now.

20 minutes

$5 Amazon.com gift card. After you finish the study, we will email you an Amazon gift card within 1 week. To be eligible for compensation, the following criteria must be met: (1) your child must be in the age range for this study and must not have previously done this study; (2) You must have provided informed consent. Once you've started the study, your child may choose to stop at anytime and still receive compensation.