Generally, each visit only takes between 30 and 45 minutes to play our two games. During your first visit, we will start by going over the consent form and having you fill out a brief demographic questionnaire in our family room. Then we move on to the games!

This is a longitudinal study, so you will be asked to come back for multiple visits over your baby’s first two years. The visits are at specific age points for your child (at 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months), so how many sessions you’ll be asked to come back for will depend on when you start.

For most visits, we will play just two games: the “Looking Game” and the “Train Game”.

Our first game is our “Looking Game” in which your baby watches abstract images pop up on the screen and we see which one they prefer. Then we start playing a pleasant sound when they look at the image they don’t prefer and track how their looking changes. The looking game takes about 5-10 minutes to complete.

Our second game is our “Train Game” in which they sit in front of a train diorama with a big button in front of them. At first the button doesn’t do anything, but after a minute it causes the train to go around the track and turns on the lights in the diorama. In this game we see how their button-pressing changes once it starts to run the train and lights. The train game takes about 6-12 minutes to complete.

Both of these games show us the most basic form of learning in babies, but in different ways!

During the visit at 24-months, we do a standardized assessment called the Bayley. The Bayley consists of many different games that help us look at your child’s language, cognitive, and motor skills. Some of these games might be familiar like drawing or playing with blocks and some might be more unusual like finding hidden toys.

Because there are so many different little games in the Bayley, the 24-month visit will likely be longer. This visit usually takes between 90 and 120 minutes.

As a thank you for coming in you will be compensated with baby’s first paycheck ($25 for all visits except 24-months which is $50), little goodies (like totes, bibs, or sippy cups), and a certificate of participation for your little one.

We offer free parking, and a researcher will be with you to guide you about the campus. If additional children are coming with you, we can provide babysitting in our family room during the session but please tell us ahead of time so we can be prepared with some fun games for them too!