University of Arizona Child Cognition Lab

Calling all Tucson parents of 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 year-olds! We need more participants for our in-person Pattern Separation Study! Interested in having your kiddo participate? Sign-up at https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate Once you sign-up, we’ll reach out with more details about the study! After participating, your little one will receive a book and you will receive a $35 Amazon gift card as a big thank you!

*An Institutional Review Board responsible for human subjects research at The University of Arizona reviewed this research project and found it to be acceptable, according to applicable state and federal regulations and University policies designed to protect the rights and welfare of children participating in research*

Volunteer to Participate | Child Cognition Lab

Calling all parents of 4-5 year-olds! We are in need of more participants for our virtual and completely online Word Learning and Integration study! If this sounds of any interest to you or your child, please sign up to volunteer at https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate Once signing up, we will contact you about next steps regarding participating in the study. After participating, we will thank you with a $30 Amazon gift card. Thank you for contributing to science!
*An Institutional Review Board responsible for human subjects research at The University of Arizona reviewed this research project and found it to be acceptable, according to applicable state and federal regulations and University policies designed to protect the rights and welfare of participants in research*

Volunteer to Participate | Child Cognition Lab

Calling all Tucson parents of 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 year-olds! We need more participants for our in-person Pattern Separation Study! Interested in having your kiddo participate? Sign-up at www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate. Once you sign-up, we’ll reach out with more details about the study! After participating, your little one will receive a book and you will receive a $35 Amazon gift card as a big thank you!

*An Institutional Review Board responsible for human subjects research at The University of Arizona reviewed this research project and found it to be acceptable, according to applicable state and federal regulations and University policies designed to protect the rights and welfare of children participating in research*

Volunteer to Participate | Child Cognition Lab

Calling all parents of 4-5 year-olds! We are looking for more participants in our virtual Word Learning and Integration study! If this sounds of any interest to you or your child, please sign up to volunteer at https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate Once signing up, we will contact you about next steps regarding participating in the study. After participating, we will thank you with a gift card. Thank you for contributing to science!

*An Institutional Review Board responsible for human subjects research at The University of Arizona reviewed this research project and found it to be acceptable, according to applicable state and federal regulations and University policies designed to protect the rights and welfare of participants in research*

Volunteer to Participate | Child Cognition Lab

Kavya presenting her research at the Honors Pinnacle at UArizona with 13-month-olds aimed at understanding how they detect and remember words in running speech. Thanks to the parents and infants who participated! We couldn't do our research without you!

Calling all parents of 7.5, 13, 17, and 18-month-olds! After you sign-up, we will contact you when your child is the right age to participate in any of our studies. Most visits (virtual and in-person) take 30 minutes or less. We test children between 7.5 months and 5 years of age using fun activities! After you participate, we thank you with a gift card, toy, or children's book!

After you sign-up, we will contact you when your child is the right age to participate. Most visits (virtual and in-person) take 30 minutes or less. We test children between 7.5 months and 5 years of age using fun activities! After you participate, we thank you with a gift card, toy, or children's book!

After you sign-up, we will contact you when your child is the right age to participate. Most visits (virtual and in-person) take 30 minutes or less. We test children between 7.5 months and 5 years of age using fun activities! After you participate, we thank you with a gift card, toy, or children's book!

Después de registrarse, nos pondremos en contacto con usted cuando su hijo/a tenga la edad adecuada para participar. La mayoría de las visitas (virtuales y en persona) duran 30 minutos o menos. ¡Investigamos a niñes entre 7.5 meses y 5 años de edad usando actividades divertidas! ¡Después de su participación, le agradecemos con una tarjeta de regalo, un juguete o un libro para niñes!

High five! Up high! Down low! Researchers at Kent State University and University of Akron compared five types of praise in 5- to 6-year-old children (“Smart girl!”, “Good effort drawing!”, “Yeah!”, thumbs up, and high five). Children were read stories about themselves drawing successful pictures and receiving various types of praise, then rated themselves and their drawings. Children who received a high five or thumbs up rated themselves higher, focused less on their errors, and showed more motivation when receiving praise that did not compliment a specific skill!

If you would like to contribute to the science of child development as a citizen scientist, please consider visiting the University of Arizona Child Cognition Lab. Our studies are fun for children, interesting for parents, and some are currently online via Zoom. Learn more at https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate.

Morris BJ and Zentall SR (2014) High fives motivate: the effects of gestural and ambiguous verbal praise on motivation. Front. Psychol. 5:928. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00928

Kindergarten is a major transition for children. Researchers at the University of Illinois found that family routines, such as regular mealtimes, household chores, or bedtime routines, can help prepare children for kindergarten and beyond! Children with more family routines during preschool showed fewer conduct problems, more growth in prosocial behaviors, and higher math and reading scores in kindergarten. Thus, routines put in place now can help your child in the long run!

Please contact the University of Arizona Child Cognition Lab if you would like to contribute to science. We provide fun activities for children and parents, and you are with your child the entire time! Learn more at https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/!

Larissa K. Ferretti & Kristen L. Bub (2017) Family Routines and School Readiness During the Transition to Kindergarten, Early Education and Development, 28:1, 59-77, DOI: 10.1080/10409289.2016.1195671

Did you know that parents are natural teachers? Researchers studied the information parents provided when helping their 2-year-old children play a “finding” game. The game required children to select a target animal from a set of known and unknown animals. Parents provided better descriptions for target animals their children did not know (e.g., sloth) than for target animals they did (e.g., cat) and provided additional information on repeat trials of target animals their children missed. Parents naturally adapt their speech to their children’s knowledge and in this way are natural teachers.

Please contact the University of Arizona Child Cognition Lab if you would like to contribute to science. We provide fun activities for children and parents, and you are with your child the entire time! Learn more at https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate!

Leung, A., Tunkel, A., & Yurovsky, D. (2021). Parents Fine-Tune Their Speech to Children’s Vocabulary Knowledge. Psychological Science, 32(7), 975–984. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797621993104

Interested in participating in research with your child? Our lab conducts a variety of studies with children ages 6.5-months-old to 6.5-years-old. A typical study involves a word learning game, or watching a powerpoint and lasts about 15-30 minutes. We send you a gift card as a thank you for participating. If you are interested in hearing more about our studies, sign up on our website or send us a message for more information!
https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate

Did you know that children are able to efficiently learn language when communicating with their caregivers? In this study, researchers wanted to know how parents communicated with their children by the way they change their pitch and tone of their speech using their child’s level of knowledge in language. 41 parent-child pairs participated with children ranging from 2 to 2.5 years of age. Their method included a parental report completed through an online survey of their child’s vocabulary and 18 animal images the pairs were asked to match. The parent-child pair used two iPads to play an interactive game where the child is shown 3 animals on display and the parent is shown a single word. The parent then had to communicate and encourage their child to choose the target animal that best fits the word by using a variety of techniques, like using descriptions that the child is familiar with. Researchers found that parents used approaches of what they knew about their child’s knowledge of language and changed their approach of communication when the child didn’t know a certain animal. The results of this study can help improve the function of machine learning of languages in the future!

If you would like to contribute to the science of child development as a citizen scientist, please consider contacting the University of Arizona Child Cognition Lab. Our virtual studies are fun for children, interesting for parents, and you are with your child the entire time! Learn more at https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate!

Leung, A., Tunkel, A., & Yurovsky, D. (2021). Parents Fine-Tune Their Speech to Children’s Vocabulary Knowledge. Psychological Science, 32(7), 975–984. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797621993104

A child’s approach to completing jigsaw puzzles can tell us about the stage of development they are in! New research from the University of East Anglia indicates that children at different stages of development use different methods for completing these puzzles. Children around four years old had the knowledge to reference the picture of what the puzzle is supposed to look like when attempting to put the pieces together. Children at three years of age used trial and error by seeing which pieces fit together and did not reference the picture of the puzzle. As age increases, children are able to complete the puzzles more efficiently because they demonstrate understanding that the picture represents what the puzzle is supposed to look like. This type of comprehension and understanding could be the foundation of learning to draw and paint! Puzzles are also great educational toys for developing many skills at a young age
such as using hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills.

If you would like to contribute to the science of child development as a citizen scientist, please consider visiting the University of Arizona Child Cognition Lab. Our studies are fun for children, interesting for parents, and you are with your child the entire time. Children also take home a toy from our toy bucket. Learn more at https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate.

Doherty, M. J., Wimmer, M. C., Gollek, C., Stone, C., & Robinson, E. J. (2020). Piecing together the puzzle of pictorial representation: How jigsaw puzzles index metacognitive development. Child Development, 92(1), 205-221. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.133

Learning sign language as an infant can help children with their visual attention skills, language learning, and socio-emotional self-regulation! It has been observed that if children’s first native language is sign language, they develop an enhanced gaze control during social engagements because they are using a visually based language. Researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology observed that expert sign-watching behavior can already be present by about 5 months of age! Signing babies are quicker to understand that the face is very important for social interactions, which can aid later in language learning. As an infant, the ability to regulate visual attention through the use of sign language will likely promote the mastery of vocabulary and world knowledge!

If you would like to contribute to the science of child development as a citizen scientist, please consider visiting the University of Arizona Child Cognition Lab. Our studies are fun for children, interesting for parents, and you are with your child the entire time. Children also take home a toy from our toy bucket. Learn more at https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate

Citation:
Bosworth, R., & Stone, A. (2021). Rapid development of perceptual gaze control in hearing native signing infants and children. Developmental Science. DOI: 10.1111/desc.13086. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348720116_Rapid_Development_of_Perceptual_Gaze_Control_in_Hearing_Native_Signing_Infants_and_Children.

Play is an important part of infant development. During play, infants improve their cognitive, physical, social, and emotional skills. Part of their cognitive and social development involves acquiring language. In infants, language is primarily made up of babbling (ba/da) and eventually, one-word utterances. Play and language have a reciprocal relationship; meaning they feed off one another. Not only do infants use babbling to communicate with playmates during cooperative play, they also attempt to attract the attention of their caregivers. This attention from the caregivers serves as a reinforcer to play, and by extent, language acquisition.

If you would like to contribute to the science of child development as a citizen scientist, please consider visiting the University of Arizona Child Cognition Lab. Our studies are fun for children, interesting for parents, and beneficial to the field. Learn more at https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate

Citation: Edna Orr (2021): The relationship between play and language milestones in
infancy, Early Child Development and Care, DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2021.1885394

Unstructured play can greatly increase your child’s creativity! Researchers at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff observed two groups of 6-year-old children in a classroom setting. Group A was given salt-dough and instructed to “Do whatever you want with it,” with little adult intervention. Group B was instructed to complete a handwriting exercise and copy text from a board. Then, each group was asked to form a collage of a creature using provided materials. In all trials, the children who had just finished playing with the dough used more color and pieces in their collage. Self-motivation and ability to explore on their own can increase your child’s creativity and productivity!

If you would like to contribute to the science of child development as a citizen scientist, please consider visiting the University of Arizona Child Cognition Lab. Our studies are fun for children, interesting for parents, and are currently online via Zoom. Learn more at https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate

Paul Howard-Jones, Jayne Taylor & Lesley Sutton (2002) The Effect of Play on the Creativity of Young Children During Subsequent Activity, Early Child Development and Care, 172:4, 323-328, DOI: 10.1080/03004430212722

Napping during the middle of the day can help enhance learning in preschool children! Researchers at the university of Massachusetts Amherst tested children using a spatial locations test. In this test, children learn the location of 12 objects that are hidden behind a 3x4 grid of grey squares. They are then asked to find the location of one of the randomly picked objects after they have been hidden behind their respective squares. The children were split into a napping group, where they took a nap shortly after learning, and a wake group where they stayed awake after learning. The results showed that children who napped remembered 10% more than their napless counterparts!

If you would like to contribute to the science of child development as a citizen scientist, please consider contacting the University of Arizona Child Cognition Lab. Our virtual studies are fun for children, interesting for parents, and you can stay with your child the entire time. Learn more at
https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate

Kurdziel, L., Duclos, K., & Spencer, R. M. (2013). Sleep spindles in midday naps enhance learning
in preschool children. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(43), 17267-172

Playing along to music may encourage sociability in infants! The researchers at Justus-Lleblg-University had 18-month-old infants participate in a study investigating music and sociability. Some of the infants in the study were in the active music group, where they played along to a song together with a drum and a rattle. The next group of infants were given a soundless rattle. Although it did not produce any noise, it imitated the effect of active music while listening to the song. Lastly, the rest of the infants participated in the non-musical activity group, where no music was being played while the experimenters read a book with them, and they were also given a soundless rattle. The infants were then tested through a helping task, where the experimenters dropped objects on the floor, like clothespins or markers, and waited to see if the infants would help pick up the objects. The infants who participated in the active music group showed higher levels of sociability and cooperation. They had quicker reactions of spontaneously helping the experimenter pick up the dropped objects without being asked to compared to the infants in the passive music group and the non-musical activity group. Previous studies found that active music helped encourage sociability and group cohesion among 4-year-old children, but the effects were also found in this study with infants as young as 18 months.

If you are interested in participating in research on child development, please message us or sign up on our website!

https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate

Buren, V., Degé, F., & Schwarzer, G. (2019). Active music making facilitates prosocial behaviour in 18-month-old children. Musicae Scientiae, 102986491989230. doi:10.1177/1029864919892308

Mimicking may increase sociability in infants! The researchers at Max Plank Institute had forty-eight 18-month-old infants participate in a study where some of the infants were mimicked by the experimenter during playtime while the other infants had normal playtime with the experimenter. For the infants being mimicked, the experimenter imitated them in a friendly manner whenever the child would speak, scratch their heads, pointed at something or walked around the room. For the infants not being mimicked, the experimenter would do the opposite of what the infant would do, like sitting down once the infant would stand up. After playtime, the experimenters then tested the infants by acting as if they bumped into a table and dropped a pack of sticks and needed help picking them up and putting the sticks away in a cabinet. The infants who were mimicked were more likely to help spontaneously without the experimenter having to ask them to help, or before the experimenter even started to reach for the sticks. The infants who were not mimicked did also help, but not until the experimenter asked them to or after the experimenter began picking up the sticks from the floor to put them away. This shows that mimicking may increase the likelihood of 18-month-old infants helping both spontaneously and quickly, encouraging positive sociability in infants.

If you'd like to participate in research on child cognition and development, sign up on our website!

https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate

Carpenter, M., Uebel, J., & Tomasello, M. Being mimicked increases prosocial behavior in 18-month-old infants doi:10.1111/cdev.l2083

Volunteer to Participate | childcognitionlab

If you want to participate in research similar to what is described below, feel free to sign up on our website: https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate?fbclid=IwAR3SL0EWTimwYJgdyg9pqB-ykV0rb-YURF8XQ5WXxKkDFAZX0DNc8TLd-Zc

Can children learn social rules from observing other’s behaviors? Yes!
Imitation has allowed children to acquire skills and behaviors from others in their environment. Past research has shown that children quickly learn new behaviors by watching others.
A study in 2010 by researchers Williamson, Meltzoff, and Jaswal confirm this theory, by investigating if 36-month-old children can learn new behaviors and rules by watching adults categorize a set of objects in different ways. In Experiment 1, children sorted a set of objects by color rather than shape after watching a demonstration. In Experiment 2, experimenters observed if children could sort objects by the sound each object made after watching a model demonstration. Researchers found that in both experiments, children showed increased sorting abilities. For example, instead of just sorting by shape or color, they could sort by sound. Instead of just imitating behaviors they see, they can imitate rules that they see others use.
Children can not only imitate physical behaviors but can also imitate rules and strategies! They can learn rules by observing and imitating others. Children’s observation of adults can significantly develop their way of thinking!

Our lab is currently running studies for 4- and 2-year-olds over Zoom! Email us at [email protected] or send us a message on Instagram or Facebook if you are interested!

Williamson, R. A., Jaswal, V. K., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2010). Learning the rules: Observation and imitation of a sorting strategy by 36-month-old children. Developmental Psychology, 46(1), 57-65.

If you want to participate in research similar to what is described below, feel free to sign up on our website: https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to...

Having a family dog along with walking and actively playing with the dog has shown potential benefits for development in children. Researchers at the International Pediatric Research Foundation surveyed 1,646 parents of 3-year-old pre-school children on whether they owned a family dog, how frequently their children joined them when walking the dog along with how much the child actively played with the dog. The parents also filled out a questionnaire regarding their children’s behavior and social development. The questionnaire included questions about conduct and peer problems, pro-social behavior and emotional behavior. The study found significant differences for children in families with a family dog and those without a family dog, with a very small percentage of children from dog-owning families with high conduct and peer problems. Also, there was a considerably smaller percentage of preschoolers who actively played with their dogs and walked them with low scores in prosocial behavior compared to children without a family dog. This suggests that owning a dog from early childhood and participating in active play and walks may have great benefits for children’s development, as pre-school children with family dogs were less likely of having conduct and peer problems and showed higher prosocial behaviors!

Wenden, E. J., Lester, L., Zubrick, S. R., Ng, M., & Christian, H. E. (2020). The relationship between dog ownership, dog play, family dog walking, and pre-schooler social–emotional development: Findings from the PLAYCE observational study. Pediatric Research, doi:10.1038/s41390-020-1007-2

If you want to participate in research similar to what is described below, feel free to sign up on our website: https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate

Children who participate in joint musical activities such as singing and dancing with other children of similar age have shown to have a higher sense of cooperative and helpful behavior. The researchers at Max Planck Institute had pairs of 4-year-old children either interact with each other in a musical group where the children sang, danced, and played with toy instruments to an unknown children song, or in a non-musical group where they interacted with each other normally without any musical activity. Afterward, the children participated in tasks that required them to cooperate and help each other in order to complete the tasks. The researchers found that the children who interacted together in the musical group had higher levels of cooperation and made more helpful comments towards each other throughout the tasks than the children in the non-musical group. This shows that joint musical activities may help create a bond among children, which encourages them to behave more pro-socially towards each other!

Kirschner, Sebastian, & Tomasello, Michael. (2010). Joint music making promotes prosocial behavior in 4-year-old children. Evolution and Human Behavior, 31(5), 354-364.

Interested in participating in research with your child? Our lab conducts a variety of studies (all over Zoom) with children ages 6.5-months-old to 6.5-years-old. A typical study involves a word learning game, or watching a powerpoint and lasts about 15-30 minutes. We send you a gift card as a thank you for participating. If you are interested in hearing more about our studies, sign up on our website or send us a message for more information!
https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate

Repetition from caregivers is key to language development! Young children who hear more language from their caregivers frequently, tend to have larger vocabularies later in their childhood development.
Researchers Schwab and Lew-Williams from Princeton University asked how the structure of a sentence may help children learn a new word. Could repetition also help children learn the new word? In this study, 40 children, aged 24 to 35 months, were taught the names of three new words repeatedly with different types of sentences. One type of sentence had the new words repeated in different contexts, one after the other. While the other sentences had the new words repeated using the same sentence throughout the experiment. Researchers found that 2-year-old children were able to learn multiple new words if the new word was repeated multiple times in a row in different sentences!
When teaching your kids new words, repeating the new word in different contexts and sentences frequently can promote their learning and understanding of that word!
Our lab is currently running studies for 4- and 2-year-olds over Zoom! Email us at [email protected] or send us a message on Instagram or Facebook if you are interested in participating!

Schwab, J.F., & Lew-Williams, C. (2016). Repetition Across Successive Sentences Facilitates Young Children’s Word Learning. American Psychological Association, 52, 879-886. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0000125

Researchers conducted a study to explore the benefits of elaborating on new words when reading. Children were given a story book to listen two, each storybook contain the same new word. There were three versions of the book where the new word was either repeated, defined, or only said once. The children were then asked to identify the novel word by looking at a picture. Children were able to complete the task wen the word was either repeated or elaborated in the story. So, share your favorite stories with your child.
At the University of Arizona Child Cognition Lab, we are conducting many fascinating studies to better understand how children learn! You are with your child the entire time, and you receive a gift card for participating. All of our current studies are completed via Zoom, so you can participate from the comfort of your own home. If you and your child would like to contribute to scientific research in a fun, safe setting, please consider visiting us! For more information go to https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate

What is one way that researchers measure development?

Working memory, ability to remember rules, and inhibiting responses are all closely related. One way to measure these is a game scientists used titled “Tower”. In this game, a scientist tells children they will take turns stacking blocks, and sees how many times the child can remember to take turns while stacking 20 total blocks. From age three to five, children’s ability to respond to these types of games greatly improves. Scientists can measure things such as working memory and inhibition in different age groups using these types of games.

If you'd like to participate in a study similar to the one described below, be sure to sign up on our website! For all of our current studies, we meet over Zoom so you can participate from the comfort of your own home.
https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu/volunteer-to-participate

Stephanie M. Carlson (2005) Developmentally Sensitive Measures of Executive Function in Preschool Children, Developmental Neuropsychology, 28:2, 595-616