Studies — Lookit

Current Studies

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

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!

From words to phrases

For babies aged 13-16 months having English as their only native language

Your child will see pairs of familiar objects (for instance a banana and a dog) and be asked to look at one of them ("Where is the banana?"). Then the correct picture will dance around after a few seconds. Half of the time the familiar word will be preceded by a word that does not exist in English ("Where is the ko banana"?). In such cases, the object that is NOT a banana will start to dance. We are interested in whether your child can learn the meaning of "ko" and understand it together with the word "banana" to predict which object is going to move by looking at it.

Guess Who: Kids

For 4-year-old children (4 years - 4 years 1 month) who hear English at home. US/Canada only.

During this activity, your child will see different speakers on the screen. Then, your child will hear them saying some words. We will ask your child to point on the screen to see if they can guess the correct speaker.

Can you hear me now?

5-year-olds with typical hearing who are exposed to both English and another language, each at least 30% of the time

In this study, your child will watch videos of a dragon saying sentences. After each sentence is said, they will be asked to repeat what they heard. Some of the sentences may be more difficult to hear, either by being presented in noise, or by being distorted in some manner. You may also be asked to participate in a short 20-minute structured conversation, via a phone call or Zoom, about your child's language exposure.

Aww... Look at that!

For babies ages 9 to 11 months

Your child will see several pairs of pictures of different items (like stuffed animals or baby food) and hear an emotional vocalization (like "aww" or "mmm") that matches just one of the items. We want to see which item your baby chooses 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.

Hey! What is she talking about?

For 5-year-olds whose native language is English only and who reside in US.

Your child will learn words in English or Mandarin. They will see either an Asian or a White speaker label new objects in Mandarin or English. Then they will see two of the new objects and hear one of their names. We are interested to see which object your child selects.

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.

Smiles and Masks

For babies ages 4 to 12 months

In this study, your baby will see pictures of 8 different faces shown on the left and right side of the screen. In some pictures, the same woman’s face will be shown; in other pictures two different women will be shown. Sometimes both or just one of the women is wearing a face mask; other times she will show a friendly smile. We are interested in which picture your baby prefers to look at. Before your baby looks at the pictures, we will ask you two questions about your baby’s experience seeing people wearing face masks.

Guess Who: Babies

For 24- to 25-month-old children (2 years to 2 years 1 month), who hear English at home. US/Canada only.

During this activity, your child will see different speakers on the screen. Then, your child will hear them saying some words. We are interested in where your child is looking on the screen to see if they can guess the correct speaker.

Hmm... What Do You Hear?

For children between 4 years, 6 months old and 5 years, 6 months old whose only native language is English, and who reside in the US.

Your child will see a series of on-screen images and will hear portions of spoken language while sitting on your lap. In the first phase (about 5 minutes), your child will see a single image on-screen. In the second phase (also about 5 minutes), two images will appear on-screen, and your child will be asked to point to the image that they heard, and you will then click on the image your child pointed to. At the end of the study, there is a brief survey.

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.

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.

Noisy Sentences

For 3 year olds who mostly hear English

In this study, your child will hear some sentences with some noises while they are looking at cartoon images of everyday items, animals, and people. We want to see what pictures your child looks at during this time. We will also ask you (the parent) to close your eyes or turn around to avoid influencing your child's responses.

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.

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!

Baby see, Baby do: Pilot Study

For full-term newborn babies (0-6 weeks old, born at 38+ weeks). Expecting a child? Congratulations! If you'd like to be reminded about this study after your due date, copy and paste the following URL into your browser, enter your due date, press send, and we'll take it from there! https://tinyurl.com/babydo-later

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.

Let's Draw!

For 4- and 5-year-old children

Your child will watch a short video about a girl named Ana. 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.

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.

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!

Find the cause!

For babies ages 15 to 19 months of age.

In this study, your child will be shown short videos, where some objects make a machine light up and play music, and others do not. Then the objects are sorted into different boxes based on whether they made the machine work. At the end of the study, your baby will see some new objects and we will measure where on the screen they look. We are interested in whether babies predict which box the new objects will be sorted in.

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.

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!

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.

Guess who's mentioned! (Bilingual Children Version)

For 5-year-olds who hear English and one other language on a daily basis. Each language should be heard at least 30% of the time. Children should reside in US.

Your child will watch videos of two people and will listen to sentences in which one of these individuals is named. We are examining whether children associate names with faces.

3..2..1..Action!

For babies within two weeks before or after their 9-month ‘birthday’

During the study, we will ask your child to view some images of videos containing objects, human avatars, or events. Some videos or images may be presented with some audio samples of speech.

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.

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).

Look at the Keet!

For 14 - to 16-month-olds (+/- 15 days) who live in mainland UK and who are learning only English.

Your baby will watch some short animated videos that introduce unfamiliar objects. Then we will show two objects at the same time and say the name of just one of them. We want to see which object your baby chooses to look at. At the end of the study is a questionnaire about the words your baby understands and says. Please choose a time of day that you think your baby will be the happiest!

Where's The Ball?

For 4-year-olds who speak English.

Your child will watch a video of a woman who will say hello and invite them to play a game. She will bring out two boxes and pull four colored balls out of each box. Your child will be asked to ‘touch’ which box they think has a *new* ball hidden inside! (P.S. there is no wrong answer!)

Rhythm and Dance Study

For five- and 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).

What's counting for babies?

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.

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!

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