Once you ring the buzzer at the gate to our parking lot, a research assistant will be out shortly to open the gate and walk you to our lab in Margaret Morrison. As soon as you enter, you will be in the greeting area. Here the experimenter will explain a little more about what's expected of the parent during the study and answer any questions you may have. If you decide to bring other children with you on your visit, another research assistant will stay behind and play with them in the greeting area while you and your child are participating in the study.

After the necessary paperwork has been signed and the procedures explained, the experimenter will take you down the hall to one of our study rooms. Currently, we run two types of studies at the Infant Cognition Lab, and a typical visit will usually involve one of each. To learn more about our individual studies, visit the "Current Studies" page.

The first type of study is called a video study. You will be seated at one end of a table and there will be a TV monitor on the other end. Your child will sit on your lap and watch a series of simple, animated geometric figures on the screen. Meanwhile, the experimenter will be seated at a nearby computer where he or she will be keeping track of how long your child looks at the screen.

When the video study ends, the experimenter will take you across the hall to participate in a toy study. Once again, you will be seated at one end of a table with your child on your lap, and the experimenter will sit at the other end. The experimenter will then model a few simple actions with some toys while your child watches. Your child will then have a turn to play with the toys. After observing your child play with the toys for a few minutes, the process will repeat a few more times. After that, you're finished participating!

Thank you for your interest in our research here at the Carnegie Mellon University Infant Cognition Lab! We hope to see you soon!