Welcome to Yale University’s Infant Mind and Cognition Lab!
We study how infants and children quickly learn about the physical and social world, and become able to think and talk as we do. Our work has been featured in media outlets such as The Washington Post and The Times.
We are seeking child scientists from ages 4 months to 10 years to come help our research! Our studies are games we design for children and infants, like listening to a story, drawing something on a touchscreen, or watching a short movie animation (for the younger ones). All our studies are fun and entertaining, and babies love them!
Families can participate in person (in our lab at 100 College Street) or online (from home on the family laptop/PC). A study lasts about 10 minutes, and a visit is rarely more than 25 minutes. We offer free parking, reception areas with toys for our little guests, changing and lactation rooms, and babysitting for siblings. At the end of the visit, all child scientists will receive either an Amazon gift card or a small prize as a token of our appreciation.
Sign up for our studies here!
Here are some of the studies running in the lab:
Bouncing Toys
Your child will watch videos of different bouncing toys trying to exit a box. Will your baby have any expectations about which toy exits the box? When forming their expectations, which information will they pay attention to?
Your child will watch animated videos where colorful fish alternate between swimming and flying. Will your baby be surprised when the fish start to fly in an unfamiliar configuration?
Fantastical Flying Fish
Your child will hear a story with video animation where Gigi plays with colourful toys. After seeing that Gigi always chooses the same object among the others, can your child help Gigi find her favorite toy? We will give some linguistic cues and we want to know if children will follow them to help Gigi.
Gigi the Penguin
Your child will watch animated videos where a lady will make a choice between two objects (e.g., a toy car and a penguin) in mystery boxes. Do you think your baby will be surprised when the lady chooses an object that she has not chosen previously?
Mystery Boxes
The Favorite Toy
Your child will watch animated videos of a woman making choices from different sets of toys. Do you think you baby can learn from her preference and correctly anticipate which new toy will become her favorite?
All of our participants get a unique certificate for each study they do, in addition to an Amazon gift card as a token of our appreciation!
Collect All Our Certificates!
