How can your child help?

Thank you for your interest in our research.

We are currently carrying out a study on gestural communication in young children between 1 and 4 years of age. The goal is to better understand the importance of gestures in the development of communication, and we are also interested in studying hand preference associated with gestures.

What will taking part in our studies entail?

If you decide to volunteer to take part in our studies, you will visit our lab in the School of Psychology in St Andrews, which is perfectly suited to welcome children and their parents. You will be reimbursed for any travel expenses in coming to the Baby and Child Lab.

The research on gestural communication will require two sessions of 45 minutes each. The first session will take place between March and August 2012, at a time that is convenient for you, and you will be contacted again for the second session between January and July 2013. Each session will start with short periods of free play with the researcher to make your child comfortable. Different activities will then be offered to your child. The researcher will show him/her different pictures and toys to elicit communicative gestures and will present him/her with different objects to assess hand preference. All the material used is designed to be fun and engaging for young children.

Sessions will be videotaped in order to observe more precisely your child's responses after your visit. If your child shows any signs of fussiness or disinterest, or if you wish to stop the study for any reason, we will stop the session. You will always be present during testing, either interacting with your child or observing the games.

If you think your child might enjoy taking part in one of our studies, or if you would like more information, please contact us.