Participate? We are always looking for children and their parent(s) to come to our centre at UBC to volunteer in our studies. If you live in the Greater Vancouver Area and have a child between 1 and 12 years of age, we invite you to come to the Centre to take part. We provide a free parking space, and your child will receive an honorary UBC degree certificate and a small gift for his or her participation.
What are the studies like? All of our studies are designed to be enjoyable for the children. In our research with preschoolers, for example, our studies involve simple, informal games that children enjoy playing. We often use puppets, short stories, or short videos to increase children’s interest and enjoyment. Children’s responses during these games and stories can tell us a lot about child development.
What are the studies about? And what are they for? Our studies examine general trends in development. We are not interested in the performance of individual children, but rather the patterns in performance across large numbers of children. Our studies help other psychologists, scientists, and educators understand the development of social reasoning. In particular, we examine how children’s ability to take someone else’s perspective (e.g., their ability to think about what someone else is thinking) influences their responses to others. When the studies are completed we write up the findings in scientific journals. We do not report any names or personal information in publications resulting from our research. The only information that is reported is about general patterns across large numbers of children. Our research has been approved by the UBC Behavioural Sciences Screening Committee for Research Involving Human Subjects.
How long do the studies take? Most of our studies involve only one 30-minute visit. Though depending on the specific study, a visit might last between 20 minutes and an hour. We will of course only schedule an amount of time that is convenient for you. We can schedule visits on weekdays or weekends, at your convenience.
How do I participate? If you and your child would be interested in participating in one of our studies, or if you would like to know more, please feel free to contact us. Telephone: (604) 822-9540 or (604) 822-6615 E-mail: earlydev ‘at‘ psych ‘dot’ ubc “dot” ca or kidlab “at” psych “dot” ubc “dot” ca
You can also sign up online to participate in our studies, or those of our affiliate researchers–The Early Development Research Group. Thank you for your support! Our research would not be possible without it.