Baby see, Baby do: Pilot Study

For full-term newborn babies (0-1.5 months old, born at 38+ weeks) .

Did you know that babies notice when you make fun faces? In this study, you and your baby will play a short imitation game and we will look to see if your baby copies the faces you make! We will also ask you some questions on experiences that new parents may have to see if that might influence the faces babies make.

This is a pilot, so we are collecting preliminary data to make sure the study is easy to use/understand for parents. Any feedback you have on the study design is greatly appreciated and welcomed; there is a box to type your feedback at the end of the study. We would love to hear from you on how this study can be improved!

In this study, we would like to see if newborn babies copy their parents' expressions at home. We would also like to see how well their parents can tell when it happens. We know from lab studies that newborns are able to copy at least some expressions of the face some of the time. We don't know how important this skill is for social-emotional growth. In particular, we don't know if newborn babies imitate often enough at home for parents to be able to pick up on it.

10 minutes

After you finish the pilot study, we will email you a $5 Amazon gift card within approximately three days. To be eligible for the gift card your child must be in the age range for this study, you need to submit a valid consent statement, and we need to see that there is a child with you. You can only receive the gift card up to once a day as long as your participation meets these eligibility conditions. But we will send a gift card even if you do not finish the whole study or we are not able to use your child's data!