Infant and Child Studies

Click here! Once you fill out and submit the form, an Infant and Child Studies researcher will be in contact to confirm your information. Depending on your preference, we will call or email you when your child is the right age for a study. It is always your choice to decide what studies interest you. You are not required to participate in any study if you join our consortium. It is always your choice! Feel free to email us at childstudies@umd.edu.

Once you have signed up for our survey and answered the questions in the email, researchers will reach out about a variety of study opportunities. You will then be able to choose which studies you want your child to participate in. You can participate in as many or as few studies as you choose, in any of our research areas.

1. When your child is the right age for a study, our labs will contact you to see if you’d like to participate. We'll work with you to schedule an appointment time that works best for you.
2. At the scheduled time, come to the University of Maryland in College Park. Specific location will vary by study.
3. Pull into the research parking spots specially reserved for you! We can also meet you at one of the many bus stops around campus.
4. Let your child play and get comfortable! Our offices are designed with kids in mind. Researchers with years of childcare experience under their belts are ready to meet you. If you have any remaining questions about how the study will go, there is time to talk with the researcher before things get started.
5. Do some science! Our studies often take the form of simple games that parents and children usually find fun and interesting, and sessions are designed to be short and reasonable for the relevant age.
6. Pick out a prize book or toy with your child, and meet and talk with the researchers behind the study.
7. Make a day of it! The NASA Goddard Visitor Center, College Park Aviation Museum, and IKEA are only a short drive away.

1. When your child is the right age for a study, a researcher from our labs will contact you to see if you’d like to participate. We’ll work with you to schedule an appointment time that works best for you.
2. At the scheduled time, log in with the discussed video conferencing software, or navigate to the study website, according to the specific instructions from the study.
3. Talk with the researcher about how to set things up and get the room, and your device, ready for the study.
4. Bring your child to the study space that you have created, and let the study unfold while the researcher records. Our studies often take the form of simple games that parents and children usually find fun and interesting, and sessions are designed to be short and reasonable for the relevant age.
5. Log off and continue with your day!

With guidance continually changing, please ask about anything that is concerning or of interest to you. In general, our researchers are vaccinated against COVID-19, many researchers wear masks for interactions with participants, and toys and surfaces are wiped down between visits, but as things unfold there may be changes or additions. Your comfort and safety is our priority, so let us know what we can do to ensure you can participate safely.

We have studies for children of various ages. Our researchers study children from early infancy through adolescence. When your child is the right age for a study, a researcher from our labs will contact you to see if you’d like to participate.

Our research is both fun and educational. Children typically enjoy playing games with the researchers and parents learn about how children develop. By participating in research, you are helping us to learn more about how children develop. Understanding child development is important both because it increases our understanding of what it means to be human and because it allows researchers to identify typical and atypical developmental patterns.

Our research does not pose any risks beyond those associated with normal life. Before participating in a research study, a researcher will explain the process as well as any potential risks or benefits to you and your child. We will begin only after you have provided informed consent.

In infant studies, your baby sits in an infant seat (or sometimes on your lap) and is shown a video displays or an animation. We measure your baby’s spontaneous reactions, such as how long your baby spends looking at items on the display.

Your child’s name and any other information you share with us will be completely confidential and will not be given to any other organizations.

Most of our research is geared towards typically developing children.

In person studies take place in one of our research labs on the University of Maryland campus in College Park. When you sign up for a study, the researcher will provide directions to our parking spots and will meet you there to escort you and your child to the study.

We provide free parking for parents and will meet you in the parking lot to escort you and your child to the lab. We have several parking spots on campus and the researcher will give you directions to your parking spot when you make an appointment with us.

Most studies take between 15 and 30 minutes, but parents should plan on a 45-minute visit so that we have time for your child to get used to our playrooms and so that we can fully explain the study to you and answer any questions you might have. For older children, studies can sometimes be longer. When you sign up for a study, the time frame will be clearly explained to you.

In general, we do not examine our data for individual differences and our studies do not inform us about the “intelligence” or abilities of any individual child. Rather, we study larger samples of children in order to learn about typically developing abilities across all children of a given age. Thus, although you will not receive the results of your child’s visit to the lab, you will receive a letter describing the findings of the study in which your child participated.

Parents are with their children at all times. When appropriate, parents can observe from the next room through a window or monitor.

We do our best to accommodate each family’s schedule. Most of our appointments are during the workday in Eastern time, but we also try to have weekend and evening appointments available when we have staffing.

Will I be compensated for participating?

Some studies offer compensation for participating, but many do not. For studies that do not offer compensation, your child will be offered a book or toy to take home.

Yes, we can usually provide free baby-sitting for any siblings you bring along. Let us know when we are scheduling, so we can make sure to have a babysitter available.

Although many families enjoy returning to participate in different studies as their children grow, many individual studies only require a single visit and does not commit you to any other visits.

There are plenty of fun activities to do on campus!
1. Visit Testudo at his statue in front of McKeldin Library
2. Visit the fountain on McKeldin Mall.
3. Take a trip to the campus farm and take a peek at the animals
4. Visit the campus book store in the Stamp Student Union
5. Go bowling and play arcade games at TerpZone in the Stamp Student Union
6. Get an ice cream cone at the famous Dairy at Stamp Student Union
7. Take a picture with Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog at their statue in front of the Stamp Student Union

Email us at childstudies@umd.edu and we will be more than happy to answer your questions!