Lookit
the online child lab

A project of the MIT Early Childhood Cognition Lab

Participate in a Study

Bringing science home

Here at MIT's Early Childhood Cognition Lab, we're trying a new approach in developmental psychology: bringing the experiments to you.

Help us understand how your child thinks

Our online studies are quick and fun, and let you as a parent contribute to our collective understanding of the fascinating phenomenon of children's learning. In some experiments you'll step into the role of a researcher, asking your child questions or controlling the experiment based on what he or she does.

Participate whenever and wherever

Log in or create an account at the top right to get started! You can participate in studies from home by doing an online activity with your child that is videotaped via your webcam.

News

September 18, 2019
Data collection is complete for the Lookit studies "Baby Euclid," "Mind and Manners", "Flurps and Zazzes," and "Words and Objects" (but stay tuned for follow-ups!). We're still looking families with babies to participate in "Look and Listen," "Your Baby the Physicist," and "Baby Laughter Games."
March 27, 2019
It's not just an MIT lab! The first studies run by outside researchers (not at MIT or directly collaborating) are live on Lookit: "Words and Objects" (from Bria Long and Mike Frank, Stanford) and "Baby Laughter Games" (from Caspar Addyman, Goldsmiths London).
November 1, 2018
Software engineer Rico Rodriguez has joined the Lookit team! He'll be focusing on adding functionality we need to scale up the platform.
October 23, 2017
Kim has defended her thesis and returned to work on Lookit as a research scientist!
March 30, 2017
Our two papers describing online replications of classic developmental studies on a prototype of the Lookit system are now available in the first issue of Open Mind, a new open-access journal from MIT Press! Thank you so much to all of our early participants who made this work possible.
September 16, 2016
We're back up and running! If you had an account on the old site, you should have received an email letting you know how to access your new account. We're getting started by piloting a study about babies' intuitive understanding of physics!
August 4, 2016
Lookit is taking a break while our partners at the Center for Open Science work on re-engineering the site so it's easier for both parents and researchers to use. We're looking forward to re-opening the login system and starting up some new studies early this fall! Please contact lookit@mit.edu with any questions.
October 1, 2015
We've finished collecting data for replications of three classic studies, looking at infants' and children's understanding of probability, language, and reliability. The results will be featured here as soon as they're published!
June 30, 2014
An MIT News press release discusses Lookit here. The project was also featured in Boston Magazine and on the Science News blog. Stay up-to-date and connect with other science-minded parents through our Facebook page!
February 5, 2014
Beta testing of Lookit within the MIT community begins! Many thanks to our first volunteers.