Bring your baby to the SPOG Lab at UCLA for a fun and engaging experience where we explore early language learning and brain development!
Who Can Participate?
We are currently recruiting 6-24 month-old babies with typical hearing who are exposed to English and have no developmental delays.
Purpose of the Study
This study aims to understand how babies process language in different listening conditions. Your baby will watch a person on a screen telling a story while wearing a special cap that records their brain activity.
What will my child do during the visit?
The visit will be scheduled for up to 90 minutes, though the actual experiment lasts about 10 minutes. This extra time allows for diaper changes, cap fitting, and getting settled.
Your baby will watch a short story on a screen while a functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) cap measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood oxygen levels. This technique is non-invasive, completely harmless, and child-friendly.
Optional Audio Recording and Vocabulary survey
As part of our research, you also have the opportunity to complete an optional LENA recording and a vocabulary survey to provide valuable insights into your child’s language environment and development. These additional activities help us better understand how language exposure shapes early learning, and we greatly appreciate your participation!
If you choose to complete the LENA audio recording, your child would wear a vest/t-shirt with a small audio recorder in a pocket through an entire day to understand your child’s auditory environment better. These recordings are a completely optional portion of the study, and you have complete control over the privacy of your data.
What else do I need to know?
Families will receive a $25 gift card, and babies will receive a small gift bag.
Free parking will be provided.