What are you curious to ask?

Children between the ages of 5 and 10 years old who reside within the United States

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.

Your child will first be prompted to talk about situations in which asking questions feels helpful. For example, they may be asked, “When do you think it is a good time to ask questions? Why?” After sharing their thoughts, we will ask your child to tell us about what they think it means to be curious.

Next, your child will do an activity in which they will learn about three fictional children—Jordan, Alex, and Riley—and explore how asking questions may help each of these children in social situations, such as when meeting a new student at school or catching up with a friend. The researcher will also provide a description about one of the fictional children, and ask your child to share what else they might be curious to know about them.

We want to understand how children think about curiosity, including when, why, and how they feel they should ask questions. We know that children demonstrate a remarkable capacity to be curious about the world and about other people, each of which help children to grow, learn, and build connections with other people. Findings from this study will help researchers learn about how this capacity to be curious shows up in children’s daily lives, especially in their interactions with peers.

30 minutes

To show our appreciation, we will email you a $15 Amazon.com gift card. To be eligible for the gift card, (1) your child must be in the age range for this study, (2) you need to submit a valid consent statement, and (3) we need to see that there is a child of the appropriate age with you during the Zoom session. Each child can only participate in this study once, though siblings are welcome. You will receive payment within 5 business days.