Baby Tetris - Preferential Looking Template [FULL STUDY]

for babies ages 6 to 12 months

In this study, your baby will see two Tetris shapes on the screen--one on the left and one on the right. The shapes will appear and disappear, rotating each time. On one side, the shape will just rotate clockwise or counterclockwise, but on the other side, sometimes it will flip over too. We are interested in which side your baby looks at more. [This is a template based on the study 'Baby Tetris' originally implemented by Aaron Beckner and Lisa Oakes.]

Babies easily recognize lots of objects around them by sight. If you're not already amazed by that, take a moment to think about just how different a bottle looks to your baby when she's drinking from it versus looking way up at it on a counter. The ability to recognize and imagine objects from different points of view, known as mental rotation, is something we use every day to fit one last piece of luggage in the car for vacation, read maps, or picture a rearranged living room.

This study will help us understand how babies perceive and think about objects, and how active a role babies play in their own learning: could they be learning from what they imagine as well as what they actually see?

15 minutes

Within 3 days after you participate in this study, we will email you a $7 Tango gift card which you can exchange for credit at a variety of stores. To be eligible for the gift card: 1) your child must be in the age range for this study, 2) you need to submit a valid consent statement, and 3) we need to see that there is a child with you. You and your child do not need to finish the whole study to receive the gift card.