Infant and Child Studies Group

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Canada
Waterloo, ON
Infant and Child Studies Group

We are part of the Psychology Department at the University of Waterloo. Help us discover how infants so quickly learn about language and the world around them!

We are made up of 2 labs - the Lab for Infant Development and Language, and the Developmental Learning Lab. We are interested in understanding language and cognitive development. We invite parents with children ages 3 months to 5 years to come participate in our studies. Participating can be a fun and engaging experience for you and your child, and we are very grateful to all who participate. Our research would not be possible without the help of families like yours in the community!

04/29/2025

A heartfelt THANK YOU to all the wonderful children, parents, and families who have participated in our research studies these past few months! 🙌 Your involvement means the world to us, and we're so grateful for your time and effort.

Your contributions are helping us uncover valuable insights into child development, and we couldn't do it without your support. Every bit of your participation is making a difference! 🌟

04/16/2025

Introducing another study conducted by the Lab for Infant Development and Language “Mickey”:

In this study, we are interested in how children use visual information from people’s lips to help them understand what they are saying!

To participate, children sit in front of a computer screen and hear a speaker say some unfamiliar words. They are asked to listen carefully to what the speaker is saying and then repeat what they heard them say. We will look at how children’s responses are influenced by the visual information from the speaker’s lips.

This study will tell us more about how children visual speech information to understand different types of speakers!

We are always looking for more participants! If you are interested and you have a child who is 5 or 6 years old, please contact [email protected]

04/08/2025

🌟 Calling all parents and soon-to-be-parents! 🌟

Join us at the Womb to Walking Baby Show on May 4th from 10am to 4pm for an exciting day full of products, services, and expert advice to help you on your parenting journey! Whether you're preparing for your first baby or looking for the latest essentials for your growing family, this event is for YOU.

🍼 Explore a variety of vendors offering the best in baby gear, nursery products, health services, and more! 👶 Connect with other parents and discover new tips and trends for every stage from pregnancy to toddlerhood.

📅 Mark your calendar and bring the whole family for a fun, informative, and interactive event!

Hosted by: KW Moms Club

Don’t miss it!

03/27/2025

Introducing an online study brought to you by the Lab for Infant Development and Language: “How Children Talk!”

In this study we are interested in learning more about how children talk to other children!

In this study, your child will participate in a picture naming game and then answer some questions about their preferences. This study will take place online through a Zoom call and will take approximately 30 minutes.

By participating in this study, your child will earn a $10 gift card to Amazon.ca.

This study is for monolingual and bilingual children ages 6-9.

Interested in participating or learning more about this study? Contact [email protected]

03/11/2025

👶✨ We’re excited to be visiting a KW Moms Club session next week! 🎉 We can’t wait to meet local families, share more about our research, and chat about how children learn and grow.

03/05/2025

We're excited to share more about another one of our studies! This study is called “BeanFest,” and it explores how young children form attitudes about new things.

This study involves a visit to the lab, where children play a computer game called “BeanFest”. In this game, children learn about what makes virtual beans safe vs.unsafe and they decide whether or not to select the beans based on these set criteria. How children answer these questions will help us understand how they learn about the world around them!

Interested in participating in this study at our Developmental Learning Lab? Contact us at [email protected] to learn more!

02/25/2025

Introducing another study from the Developmental Learning Lab:
“Occasions”

We’re exploring how young children think about events that only happen sometimes. For example:

Sometimes people smile back when you smile—but not always.

Sometimes plates break when dropped—but not always.

In this fun and engaging study, your child will read short stories and play small games with the experimenter who will ask them questions about events that happen sometimes.

This study is designed for 5-7-year-old children. We are always looking for more participants! If you are interested in learning more or signing up to participate, please e-mail [email protected]

02/17/2025

Happy Family Day!

We hope you have a wonderful day spending time with your loved ones!

02/13/2025

🚨 New Video Abstract Alert! 🚨

We’re thrilled to share a video describing the Developmental Learning Lab’s latest publication in Developmental Science! 🎥✨

📖 Title: Who Peeked? Children Infer the Likely Cause of Improbable Success

Authors: Chung, A. M., Kim, T., Friedman, O., & Denison, S.

Journal: Developmental Science

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.1359

🌟 In this study, we explored how children reason about improbable outcomes and infer whether someone might have "peeked" to achieve success. The findings provide fascinating insights into children's causal reasoning and their ability to detect social rule violations.

👉 Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2Xetj1V6lk

12/09/2024

We're excited to share more about another one of our studies! This study is called “Learning with Children,” and it explores the strategies children use to learn and remember words!

This study involves a visit to the lab, where your child will play a game of Simon Says with two researchers. Your child will be presented with one word at a time and will either be asked to listen to the word, draw out a picture of the word, or say the word out loud.

Interested in participating in this study at our Developmental Learning Lab? Contact us at [email protected] to learn more!

11/29/2024

Introducing another study from the Lab for Infant Development and Language - “Age Predict”

In this study we are exploring how children make predictions when comprehending language. In this study, children sit in front of a screen on which we present them with two objects at a time while a sentence corresponding to one of the objects is played. We measure where children are looking on the display as they hear each word in the sentence! We also ask parents to fill out a brief questionnaire about their child’s language background and vocabulary.

This study is designed for 3.5 - 5.5-year-old children. We are always looking for more participants! If you are interested in learning more or signing up to participate, please e-mail [email protected]

11/19/2024

Twas the month before Christmas, and all through the town, holiday magic is stirring, so come on down! 🎄✨

There are lots of fun holiday activities in Kitchener-Waterloo! Here are a couple of them: 🎅🎁

Sparkles - Nov. 21-24
St. Jacobs

Christkindl Market - Dec. 5-7
Kitchener

Christmas Market - Dec. 8
Waterloo

Christmas Market - Dec. 14
Cambridge

Address

University Of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, ON
N2L 3G1

Website

http://uwaterloo.ca/infant-studies-group

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Our Story

We are made up of 2 labs - the Lab for Infant Development and Language, and the Developmental Learning Lab. We are interested in understanding language and cognitive development. We invite parents with children ages 0-6 years old to come participate in our studies. Participating is a fun and engaging experience for you and your child, and we are very grateful to all who participate. Our research would not be possible without the help of families like yours in the community!