Category Archives: Whitfield Lab

It’s beginning to look a lot like…

Not so fast! Just because the students are finishing up Week 10 today, doesn’t mean that our research is grinding to a halt for the year. Here’s a reminder of the ongoing studies happening in our research group – let us know if you want to get involved!

Ongoing Studies

Bilingual Study Survey (Read Lab)
Are you a parent of a child under the age of six whois learning English or Spanish? Would you like to participate in a short 25-minute survey to help us learn more about the benefits of storybook reading? If yes, please click the link in the language you would like to answer the survey.
Spanish Survey:
https://scu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0ebHsf9Wk0xppg9
English Survey:
https://scu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4Vj1mYnh1DFAQD3

Nature Study (Whitfield Lab)
Is your child between the ages of 8 and 10? Would you be interested in having your children participate in a study of the impact of nature on attention, or want more information about the study? If yes, please contact us at childresearch@scu.edu.

Dramatic Pause Study (Read Lab)
“One fish, two fish, red fish…?” Ever notice how when you read with your child you can sometimes pause and let them fill in the last words? Well, the Read Lab is investigating this phenomenon and how it can actually help kids learn new words from storybooks. Two experiments will continue into the new year on this theme, let us know if you have a 2- to 5-year-old and would like to participate at childresearch@scu.edu.

Beliefs About Language Study (Bhagwat Lab)
Where does language come from? Do preschool children know that language is something we learn from our parents or do they believe that the language that we speak is something that we are born with? In the Bhagwat lab, we are currently exploring this question with both monolingual and bilingual children, here in the US and also in India. If your child is between 4 and 6 years, and you would like to participate in this study, email us at childresearch@scu.edu.

Do short breaks help loooong attention in kids?

Not everything we do around here is with preschoolers! The Whitfield Lab is currently looking for 8- to 10-year-olds for studies this fall  investigating how taking a short break in the middle of a computer lesson helps children to continue paying attention until the end of the task. What kind of break? How much could it help? Answers coming soon…

If you are interested in participating, contact us at childresearch@scu.edu  In the study, children will play some short memory games and a simple but challenging computer game over three-sessions – what they would often be doing at home anyway, but here we’ll turn it into science 🙂

Getting ready for a new school year!

While many of our students here at SCU haven’t returned to campus yet, the developmental labs are already hard at work making plans for fall research! We’re starting with some new outreach initiatives led by our new Research and Outreach Assistant, Maria Munoz Yepez (yay!). We’re currently working with partners at local preschools and elementary schools and San Jose public libraries to set up studies and get in touch with families interested in being a part of child development research. We are also looking for ideas for ways that we can give back to our parents and partners. If you’d like to get more involved in our research let us know! You can join our volunteer pool here: https://goo.gl/forms/nBdRIqNU0NnX8Rur2  or  if you are already in our volunteer pool but have some ideas for helping us stay better connected with you, you can  fill out a quick survey here: https://goo.gl/forms/Zoyha2uSKn9537iX2

Happy back-to-school!