The Preschooler Emotions Project

The study procedures for the Preschooler Emotions Project include two visits to the Emotion Regulation lab. During each visit, you will be asked to complete a series of questionnaires about your child’s social and emotional development, as well as your child’s temperament. The visits are scheduled at your convenience and can be held on weekdays, evenings (we can begin as late as 5:00 p.m.) and Saturdays.

Visit 1

Prior to your first visit, we will send you a questionnaire in the mail called the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) about your child’s temperament. We would ask that you please bring the CBQ with you to your appointment at the lab.

Your first lab visit will last 1 1/2 to 2 hours. During that time, we will ask you to complete additional questionnaires about your child’s emotional and social development while your child is engaged in a series of games and activities with trained research assistants. These activities are designed to elicit different emotional reactions. The games will include playing with a variety of toys, drawing, and playing with a bubble toy.

Some of the games are designed to present mild emotional challenges so that we can observe how children respond to difficult tasks. However, any negative feelings that may have been elicited during the tasks are immediately remedied, as we provide children with gifts to take home. There is also a snack break, during which you can join your child for a snack.

The session will be videotaped so that we may watch the videotapes later and code them (please see our Confidentiality page for more information).

Visit 2

Your second visit will be very similar to your first visit, as you will be asked to complete a series of questionnaires about your child’s development while your child plays games and performs activities with a trained research assistant. However, this time, we will monitor your child’s heart rate while they participate in the lab tasks. This is a completely non-invasive procedure. We simply place two adhesive electrodes that stick on like stickers above the heart and below the rib cage. These electrodes pick up heart rate.

Your second visit will last between 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Toward the end of your session, you will again have the opportunity to join your child for a snack. Following the snack, you will remain in the experiment room with your child, and the last few tasks of the session will allow you and your child to work together on a series of activities, including working on a puzzle together and having time for free play.

Like your first visit, your second session will also be videotaped so that it can be coded.

The Emotion and the Brain Project

Participation in the Emotion and the Brain Project involves one visit to the Emotion Regulation Lab. Prior to your visit, we will send you a questionnaire in the mail about your child’s temperament. Depending on your child’s age, you will either receive the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) or the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ). We would ask that you please bring this questionnaire with you to your appointment at the lab.

Your lab visit will last 2 1/2 to 3 hours. During that time, we will ask you to complete additional questionnaires about your child’s emotional, social, and behavioral development while your child plays a fun computer game. We will record your child’s brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG). To do this, we will put a special cap on your child’s head that accommodates 64 electrodes. The electrodes are attached to the cap and we will use watersoluble gel to facilitate the EEG recording. This is a non-invasive procedure and it is completely safe.

The theme of the visit is “a trip to outer space.” The room where your child will be staying during the session is decorated like a spaceship and we encourage children to pretend that they are astronauts.

After your child has completed the computer game, he or she will be given an astronaut certificate to reward them for their efforts, and they will also receive a package of astronaut food (either ice-cream or strawberries, depending on dietary needs) to take home. We will also take a picture of your child in the “space cap,” and we will give this photograph to your child to take home.