Stanford Developmental Labs


List of Current Studies


These studies are conducted by Stanford Developmental Labs:
Social Learning Lab, Language & Cognition Lab,
The Markman Lab, & The Social Concepts Lab .

To participate, click HERE to sign up for an appointment.


Test

Who Knows More?

Social Learning Lab


Ages: 5



We want to know how children reason about what others know based on the effects of their communication. Children will watch videos of “wubs” (puppets) trying to figure out how a toy works and communicate with each other. After the video we will ask which wub knows how the toy works!


Test

Noisy Classroom

Social Learning Lab / Language & Cognition Lab


Ages: 3 - 5



Do children understand that noise can prevent someone from understanding speech? In this study, we show children short video clips of a teacher and her student who wants to learn about some cool new toys in the class. But because the classroom is noisy, it can be hard for the students to hear what the teacher is saying. We are curious if children infer that the student might not understand everything the teacher says.


Test

Storybook

The Markman Lab


Ages: 5 - 6



How can we inspire and motivate girls to achieve and pursue fields in which they have been historically underrepresented (e.g. science)? Recently, there has been an explosion of well-intentioned efforts to address this question. In particular there is a growing market of storybooks about historical female role models intended to inspire and motivate young female readers.

In this study, we’re interested in evaluating how effective different elements of these storybooks are in motivating girls to actually pursue these fields. In a typical study from this project, we read select excerpts of actual best-selling storybooks to 5 and 6 year old children, and ask them questions about their own motivation and a third-party’s motivation to pursue a certain field or career.


Test

A planet far, far away!

The Markman Lab


Ages: 7 - 10



In this study, we’ll read a story introducing children to a new planet and some aliens they’ve never seen before. These aliens go to school and learn how to read, just like us! Then, we ask children for their opinions on the different kids who go to school on the planet. There are no right or wrong answers, we really want to know what children think!


Test

Let's Chat

The Social Concepts Lab


Ages: 7 - 13



In this study we'll read a short story with you and your child about protests against racism. Then you and your child will have a chance to talk about the story before we ask your child some questions about what they think! The goal of this study is to understand how children think about groups of people and types of social bias.


Test

Let's Visit an Island!

The Markman Lab


Ages: 7 - 9



How does providing different reasons for why a social group is the way that it is affect children's reasoning about the social group? Children will learn about groups of people who work different jobs on an island. After learning about the groups, we'll ask children some questions about the groups and their jobs they work.