Studies — Lookit

Current Studies

Please note you'll need a laptop or desktop computer (not a mobile device) running Chrome or Firefox to participate.

Learning "Mommy" Part 1

Babies who will turn 6 months within the next week and their maternal primary caregivers, US/Canada only

Can your little one tell if "mommy" is referring to you? In this study, we are interested to see how well your baby understands different types of word labels, especially to the label of a primary female caregiver they are routinely hearing (such as "mom", "mommy", or "mama", etc.). During this portion of the study, we will take a video clip of you (baby's primary female caregiver) and of your baby's hand to be shown to them later in a short video. This video will include those photos of you, as well as of other people, hands, and feet. We would record your baby's reactions to measure where they look and for how long!

Learning to Look at Faces

For babies ages 6 to 9 months who live in the United States.

In this study, your baby will see pictures of 16 different faces shown on the left and right side of the screen. In some pictures, the same person's face will be shown; in other pictures two different people will be shown. We are interested in which picture your baby prefers to look at.

Does your baby know what you are thinking?

For 18-month-olds (+/- 15 days)

In this study, your baby will be watching some videos showing a person with either a true belief or a false belief about a situation for a couple of minutes. We will ask you (the parent) to help us live-code your baby's looking by pressing a key on your keyboard. Please only use the Firefox browser when participating in this study.

Which amount will Kelly choose?

For babies ages 12 to 15 months

Your baby will watch videos of our friend Kelly choosing between different amounts of toys. We are studying how babies expect other people to make choices. You’ll need a high chair or stroller for your baby to sit in during the study.

Should I learn from you?

For babies ages 17-19 months who were born at full term (37+ weeks) and hear English at home

Your child will watch several short videos of a person playing with toys and naming them. At the end, your child will see pairs of toys while a word is played. The word will match just one of the toys. We want to see which toy your baby chooses to look at!

Face Preference Tug-of-War

9 through 12-month-old infants born full-term (38+ weeks) who are regularly exposed to the English language and live in the United States.

Your child will watch short videos of South-Asian women reciting a children’s story. One of the videos will have the accompanying audio, while the other will be silent. Then, we will show your baby pictures of the same people, or a new face. We want to see which face your baby will pay attention to more.

Scene and Heard!

For babies ages 11.5 to 13.5 months. Because the study has a language component, there should be a native English speaker in the home.

In this study, your child will watch several videos of one kind of scene (like an indoor scene) labeled with a made-up word. Then, another example of that type of scene will be presented side-by-side with a new kind of scene (like a field). Your child might also see scrambled scenes. We use these to see how much a scene’s structure — versus its colors and textures alone — might help babies to categorize it. We’re interested in whether language draws babies’ attention to the information that differs between different kinds of scenes. Babies tend to look longer at things they find interesting, so we will measure how long your child looks at each scene to see if they find one more interesting than the other.

Play a Silly Word Game with Us!

For children ages 2 years, 6 months to 3 years, 4 months (30 to 40 months) who speak English

Your child will watch captivating videos with colorful shapes and music as well as videos of simple actions. They will hear some silly words throughout the study. We may ask your child to point to the screen, but it is okay if they do not. Either way, we will be capturing your child’s eye gaze as they watch the videos so we can tell what they are looking at.

Can babies learn categories from sign language?

For babies aged 4 to 6 months, born full term (after 37 weeks), who are living in the United States

In this study, your baby will see a series of objects and a woman who points to and communicates about the objects in American Sign Language. Then your baby will see two images at the same time and we record where they look throughout the study.

ALIENating Speech Sounds

For 5- to 12-month-old babies who are hearing mostly English (90-100% of the time ) OR who are hearing both English and another language (at least 30% of each). US/Canada only.

In this study, your baby will watch cartoon aliens labeling objects. First they will see familiar objects being labeled (e.g., banana) and then unfamiliar objects being labeled. The unfamiliar objects will be labeled with speech sounds that can be difficult to tell apart. Lastly, your baby will watch dancing rainbow dots while hearing sequences of the two speech sounds, and we will measure how long they look at the screen. Before the video for your baby, there is a brief task for you the parent: selecting the sounds you hear.

Little Drummers - Exploring toddlers sense of rhythm

For 2- to 2.5-year old children.

To measure their sense of rhythm toddlers will be asked to bang on a flat surface with and without a musical accompaniment (takes 3 minutes). We will then ask you to complete an online survey, which includes some fun interactive games to try with your little one (this can be done at a later time).

Biological Motion

For babies between 4 and 8 months of age, who haven't participated in the "Biologische Beweging Studie" (the Dutch version of the same experiment).

In this study, your baby will see several short videos. First, we will either present a woman making hand gestures, such as playing peek-a-boo, or we will show rotating machine gears. Then, we will display two videos side by side that will show moving points. While in one of the videos the points resemble a person moving in the dark, in the other the points will be moving randomly. Which video will your baby prefer to look at more?

Children's Understanding of Emotions - How Would Someone Feel?

For 7- and 8-year-olds and 12- and 13-year-olds who speak English

In this study, your child will be shown pictures of emotional scenes. For each picture, your child will be asked how they think someone would feel if they saw that scene in real life.

Penguin's Playhouse: Exploring Word Learning

For children ages 24 - 36 months who hear mostly English at home (90-100% of the time) and live in the United States or Canada.

Your child will watch an animated penguin label objects. They will then see pairs of the objects while hearing a single word; the word will match just one of the objects. After a short break, your child will see the same objects again but in different colours while hearing the words. We want to see which object your child chooses to look at! Afterwards, we will ask you to answer a few questions about your child's vocabulary and media use.

Rhythm and Dance Study

For three to six-year-olds who speak English

In this study, you will complete a short survey about your child's experience with music, and then two tasks. In Task 1, your child will listen to cartoon animals playing the drums and pick the animals who are the best drummers for dancing (8-10 minutes). In Task 2, your child will dance along with drumming (about 5 minutes). For this, you will need to set up a "dance space" for your child to keep them in the camera frame, and for their safety while dancing. For the dance space, you could use a rug or foam mats on the floor, mark a space with masking tape, or set some pillows in a circle. The space should be at least 4' x 4' (approx. 1.2m x 1.2m).

Who is this?

For babies aged 11.5 to 12.5 months who learn English as their first language and who reside in the United States

In this study, your baby will watch a short video filled with cute, stuffed animals and hear names for these animals (like "dax"). Your baby will later see these named animals next to new animals that haven't been named. We will then check which animal your baby chooses to look at more.

Groovy, baby?

For babies aged 9 to 18 months old

Your baby will listen to four different songs (two minutes of music altogether) and we will measure how they move during the music. We will then ask you to complete a short online survey (this can be done at a later time). You will need a high chair for your baby to sit in.

See numbers, hear numbers 2.0!

For babies age 8.5 to 9.5 months.

In this study, your baby will hear different voices making different numbers of sounds, and watch movies with different numbers of shapes in them. We are interested in whether babies can match the numbers they hear to the numbers they see. This is a new version of "See numbers, hear numbers" - your child can participate in both if eligible!

Have you heard the word?

For 22- to 32-month-olds who are either 1) hearing mostly English (at least 90-100%) OR 2) hearing English and any second language (at least 30% English, and 30% their second language). Only US/Canadian residents are able to receive a gift card for participation.

In this study, your toddler will hear some familiar words in English while watching an oval move across the screen. Afterwards, you will fill out a questionnaire about your child's language experience.

What's counting for babies? 2.0

For babies age 14 to 19 months.

In this study, your baby will watch different numbers of toys being pointed at and labeled in different ways (such as "one, two, three" or "this, this, this"). We are interested in how babies react to different types of activities that resemble counting. This is a new version of "What's counting for babies" - your child can participate in both if eligible! You will need a high chair or stroller for this study.

Matching Machines!

For 4 to 7-year-olds who speak English.

In this study, your child will be shown short videos of different machines. Their job will be to match the machines that are most like each other! Your child will be asked to make choices by clicking on pictures on the screen.

See numbers, hear numbers!

For babies age 3 to 5 months.

In this study, your baby will hear different numbers of sounds, and watch movies with different numbers of shapes in them. We are interested in how well babies can match the numbers they hear to the numbers they see.

Using words to learn more words!

For babies aged 14 to 16 months who learn English as their first language

In this study, babies watch short videos of a woman pointing to and naming a few familiar objects (“Look at the apple!” or "Do you see the banana?”). She then introduces a new word (“Dax”), but the object is hidden. Babies then see a pair of unfamiliar objects (e.g., a mango and an ottoman), and we record where they look when they hear that word ("Dax"). We ask parents to fill out a questionnaire at the beginning of the study.

Who speaks what? (8-11 month-olds)

For babies ages 8-11 months who were born at full term (37+ weeks) and hear only English at home

Your child will watch videos of people who speak either a familiar language (English) or an unfamiliar language (French). Then the two speakers will be presented side-by-side either in silence or grasping a toy. We are interested in which speaker your baby prefers to look at!

Let's Draw!

For 4- and 5-year-old children

Your child will watch a short video and listen to some instructions from an experimenter. Then your child will draw a picture. To participate, your child will need two blank sheets of white 8.5” x 11” paper (US Letter Size) and a regular pencil with an eraser.

Which face will your baby recognize?

For 5-month-old and 12-month-old full-term infants (at least 38 weeks of gestational age) who are regularly exposed to English language

Your baby will watch short videos of two people reciting children's stories. The sound will either match just one of them, or neither. We will then show your baby pictures of the same people, or a novel face. We want to see which faces your baby will pay more attention to.

What's their goal?

For babies aged 11 to 13 months who hear mainly English in their household and does not hear Spanish regularly; each child may only participate in this study once

In this study, your baby will first watch a video where two female experimenters will introduce themselves. After the introduction, your baby will watch a scene in which one of the experimenters will repeatedly select one toy over another. After a number of scenes, the placement of the toys will switch and the experimenter will continue selecting the same toy or a new toy. Your baby's looking behaviour will be recorded, and we’re interested in whether understanding someone’s language affects babies' ability to understand other people's goals. During the study, we will ask you to either keep your eyes closed or be turned around facing away from the screen. There will be more detailed instructions on how to hold your baby during the study!

Cue the Music!

For 10-month-old monolingual babies who are hearing English (at least 90-100% ), OR 10-month-old bilingual babies who are hearing English and Cantonese/ Mandarin (at least 30% English, and 20% Cantonese or Mandarin); US/Canada only.

In this study, your baby will first be enjoying short clips of women singing a tune to them (and hopefully you'll enjoy it as well!) in English, Cantonese, or Mandarin. Then, your child will listen to a series of language sounds while looking at rainbow dots.

Biologische Beweging Studie

Voor baby's tussen 4 en 8 maanden oud, die niet hebben deelgenomen aan het onderzoek "Biological Motion".

In dit onderzoek zal uw baby verschillende korte video's bekijken. Eerst laten we een vrouw zien die handgebaren maakt, zoals kiekeboe spelen, of we laten draaiende tandwielen zien. Daarna zullen we twee video's naast elkaar afspelen die bewegende punten laten zien. In een van de video's lijken de punten op een persoon die in het donker beweegt, terwijl in de andere video de punten willekeurig bewegen. Naar welke video zal uw baby het liefst kijken?

Baby Body Perception Study

For full term babies aged 5 months or 9 months (please only participate in this study once - e.g. if you participated when your baby was 5 months you cannot participate again when they are 9 months)

In this study your baby will watch pictures of two babies presented side-by-side. Some pictures will look normal but others will be stretched out. Sometimes the pictures will be upright and sometimes upside down. We want to see which picture your baby chooses to look at!

Ready, Set, Emotion!

For babies 7 months old with parents using Firefox

We will be showing babies pictures of faces posing happiness, fear, and anger to see if they detect emotional expressions compared to a neutral expression. Some of the pictures will be presented very quickly. Adults are able to detect emotional faces very rapidly, in as little as 17ms! In this study, we will record your baby as he/she looks at very briefly presented facial expressions on the computer. We will use your recording to see when your baby looks to the emotional face location. We want to see if they are able to detect where and when an emotional face is presented.

Il tu@ piccol@ sa a cosa stai pensando?

Per bambini di 18 mesi (+/- 15 giorni)

In questo studio il tu@ bambin@ guarderà alcuni video che mostrano una persona con una credenza 'vera' o una 'falsa' credenza riguardo a una situazione per un paio di minuti. Mentre il tu@ bambin@ sarà impegnato con i video, chiediamo a te (genitore) di aiutarci a codificare il suo sguardo in tempo reale premendo un tasto sulla tastiera. Vi chiediamo di utilizzare solo il browser Firefox per partecipare a questo studio.

How am I feeling?

For 6- to 8-month-olds

In this study, we are looking at how caregivers and their babies interact. First, you will be asked to read a book with your baby. Please have a short book, that your baby is already familiar with, ready for this. Next, you will be asked just to play with your baby for a few minutes. These tasks will be recorded, so please plan a space down on the floor and position your laptop/webcam so that you can both be seen. Finally, we will ask you to complete a questionnaire about your body, your mood and your baby. At the end of the questionnaire, you will find a special certificate for your baby!

Who speaks what? (4-6 month-olds)

For babies ages 4-6 months who were born at full term (37+ weeks) and hear only English at home

Your child will watch videos of people who speak either a familiar language (English) or an unfamiliar language (French). Then the two speakers will be presented side-by-side either in silence or grasping a toy. We are interested in which speaker your baby prefers to look at!

Meet the Wuggles!

For 3- to 4-year-olds who hear English at home

Your child will play a game that involves matching pictures of alien “wuggles” based on their emotions.

Helping Zooma learn an alien language

6- to 8-year-old children with typical hearing and vision (corrected is fine, e.g. glasses or hearings aids) who hear English at home (bilingual/multilingual are also welcomed); US only.

Your child will play a space game. In the game, our alien friend Zooma is going on a trip to a new planet. On the new planet, they speak a language called Zilly. Your child will help Zooma practice speaking in Zilly so she can talk to the other aliens when she arrives on the new planet!

Looking for more ways to contribute to research from home? Check out Children Helping Science for even more studies!