Help Bear Find Blickets!

For 4 to-7 years old

In this study, you and your child will help us figure out how a special machine works! You’ll place different objects on the machine to discover which ones can turn it on. Most of the questions will be asked to you, the parent, while your child watches and listens. First, you'll see a few short examples showing how the machine behaves. Then, you or your child will take a turn trying to turn it on. At the end, you'll pick the object you think makes the machine light up!

In this study, we are interested in how joint and observed playful exploration between a parent and child shapes causal reasoning. Past work has demonstrated differences in how adults and children learn about certain kinds of causal relationships (i.e. how different objects might activate a machine). Here we are seeking to understand how the particular actions that adults (or children) take during causal exploratory play might shape learning and reasoning.

10-15 Minutes

After you participate, we'll email you a $5 Amazon gift code within seven business days to thank you for your time. To be eligible for compensation we ask that you (1) provide a valid consent video (we will show you how!), (2) make sure your child is in the age range specified above, (3) English is (one of) your child's first language(s), and (4) ensure that your child is visible during the recorded videos. We can only provide compensation once per participating adult-child pair. If you have multiple children, please note that you can only participate in the study with one child, as each adult is also eligible for compensation only once. You do not need to finish the entire study in order to be eligible for compensation.