Information for Parents

     We encourage parents to read this message from Dr. Rebecca Gómez, lab director, for some perspective on participating in our research. For information about our lab's history, please click here. For more detailed information about our specific studies and current research, please visit our infant studies.

Why Sign Up?

     There are many reasons that parents and children participate in our studies. Some enjoy contributing to scientific knowledge, while others enjoy exposing their infants to a new experience. Since all participants are fully debriefed at the end of each experiment, the parents often learn some new information as well. Almost all parents that participate elect to participate again with us when their child is in range for the next available study, and parents that participate three times earn a gift certificate to one of many locations around Tucson. It's fun and educational for parents and infants, and the earlier you start the more studies you can participate in.

     From the standpoint of the lab, we depend upon volunteers like you for data. Unlike the adult labs, which can recruit subjects from classes at the U of A by rewarding credits, we must earn the dedication of parents that volunteer their own time to help further our research. We do our very best to be courteous, prompt, communicative, and professional because we know that parents and children sacrifice their own time to participate. When scheduling, we promise to work around your schedule to the extent possible.

What to Expect

     When you provide us with your information, we enter it into our secure database and delete all other records. When your infant is in range for a study, as determined by the birth date, birth weight, and birth term of the infant, we will contact you with a phone call or email and provide information about that specific study. Your contact information will not be used for any other purpose, and if you are not interested in the study then you are free to decline. We typically schedule two weeks in advance.

     If you have other children and cannot find a sitter, you are welcome to bring them for the appointment and they can remain in our playroom under the supervision of another research assistant. Please alert us in advance so we can make sure we have an extra research assistant available.

     After being scheduled, we will mail a confirmation letter to your address that includes directions to our lab and your appointment time and date. If there are any reasons you need to reschedule past this point please contact us as soon as possible and we will gladly accommodate you.

     Our lab has its own parking space next to the Psychology building, and upon arrival a research assistant will greet you with the parking pass for the space. It is clearly marked with a picture of Tigger, and has a telecom box for you to alert us of your arrival. Entry into the Psychology building accommodates strollers.

     Our lab is located on the fourth floor of the Psychology building and is elevator accessible. We have our own play room filled with clean toys for your child to play with while you sign the neccessary consent forms and provide us with other basic information. We will fully explain the specific procedure to you at this point. Most of our infant studies take 20-30 minutes, from consent forms to debriefing.

     Many of our infant studies take place in a sound isolation booth and are video recorded for later coding. This allows us to have a consistent environment from experiment to experiment and to have consistently-entered data. There is nothing attached to your infant and you will remain with your infant the entire time; all of our experiments are completely harmless. You are in control and may stop the experiment at any time if you feel uncomfortable.

     All data are recorded to a subject number rather than a child's name to encourage confidentiality and impartiality. Participant's personal information is detached from the data for all analytical purposes. We report the data in scientific articles that are published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals. For parents that are interested, we have made available our previous publications.

     If you have any questions about signing up that weren't answered here, please feel free to contact us.

     If you would like to send us your information, please see our section on how to participate.

     If you would like to see our play room and sound isolation booth, please take our lab tour.

     For links to sites that could be informative or helpful, please visit our resources page.