Noel goes to college

We were contacted through the mail about a month ago by the University of Maryland's Child Development Lab to see if we were interested in having Noel participate in a research study. The psychology geek that I am was so excited! So we mailed back in our interest to participate and waited for our phone call! It came not long after and we were schedule for a day!

Well, today was that day! Noel went to college! I know, I know . . . we have the smartest kid EVER! ;) Here are Noel's first day of school photos!





We arrived at the University of Maryland, College Park campus, and were escorted up to their child development lab. After filling out several release waivers and permission forms, we were taken back to a small room where the study took place. The students put a cap on Noel's head to measure EEG, which is a non-invasive measure of brain activity. The cap was stretchy and had been soaking in saline solution, so it did not bother Noel at all. Once it was put on she totally forgot it was there!







Once the cap was on, the research assistants went behind a little curtain that looked like a puppet theater. The curtain opened and Noel was introduced to one toy at a time, there were about 10 toys in all, and she was encouraged to grab it and play with it. She wasn't interested at first, but eventually grabbed a toy and threw it to the ground. Then she finally started grabbing the toys and wanting to play with them. After a few seconds, one of the research assistants would take the toy from Noel and encourage her to grab another toy. Noel quickly learned that there was no point in grabbing a toy, because the lady was just going to take it away. Oh well!

The actual study then began. They showed Noel a small toy that spun and made noise. Then the curtain closed. It opened with one of the research assistants showing Noel two toys. One of the toys the research assistant showed more interest in. She looked at it, pointed at it. Then she pushed the toys towards Noel and encouraged her to try. I think that Noel was still remembering her toys being taken away earlier, because she had no interest in grabbing a toy. After a few minutes of nothing happening, the curtain closed and they showed Noel the fun spinning toy again. The curtain closed and opened with the research assistant and two new toys. This repeated several times. Two times Noel did pic the toy that the research assistant showed more interest in, the other times she just sat there and stared. Near the end she was fed up with not getting to play with the toys and she started to get fussy. Whatcha gonna do?

At the end of the study she received a toy for participating and I received a small cash token. Overall, it was a fun experience and I hope they contact us to participate again! :) Here is Noel with a few marks left on her from the cap. No worries, no babies were harmed during the participation in this study!