For Parents
What you can expect when participating in our research.
What will happen at my appointment?
When you arrive at the lab, a research assistant will take you to our child-friendly waiting room and explain the goals of our studies as well as describe exactly what will happen during your visit. We will provide ample time to make you comfortable and answer any questions you may have.
Depending on the age of your infant and the specific studies we are running at the time of your appointment, you and your infant may participate in one or more procedures. You will be with your infant throughout the entire appointment, which could range from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Examples of Procedures
Object Exploration Studies
During these studies, the experimenter sits across from infants and presents them with objects while we videotape their responses. Infants are allowed to play with the toys in any way they wish--they can look at them, toss them on the floor, or chew on them (we disinfect the toys after each visit).
Looking at Pictures Studies
Most of our computer studies involve infants sitting on their parents’ laps and looking at different pictures on computer screens. An observer is seated out of sight and records the infant's reaction to these pictures. These studies can range from 2 minutes to 15 minutes in length.
Motor/Sitting Assessments
For some of our procedures we’re interested in how well infants can sit on their own or how they interact with different toys. For these studies we sit infants on a blanket and either record how well they sit on their own (parents are nearby to assist infants if needed), or have them sit with parents and place an array of toys around them and record if/how they manipulate each toy (we disinfect the toys after each visit).
Interested?
If you have questions about our research or are interested in participating, contact us by phone at (530) 297-4416 or email at ucdkids@ucdavis.eduClick here for directions to the lab.
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