Examining babies and toddlers is no child's play
‘Neurocognitive methods in infant and toddler research’ Summer School
Dynamics of Youth will organise three Summer Schools this year. What will students learn, and who is responsible for the content of the Summer Schools? Carlijn van den Boomen, who will coordinate the Summer School together with Brigitta Keij, has the floor.
What is this Summer School all about?
It's about the challenges you might encounter when conducting research involving babies and toddlers. There are various research methods you can use, just like with adults. However, the main difference is that research with small children is much more difficult.
We will point out what could crop up during research with small kids, and how these challenges impact your study design and data analysis. Our primary goal is not to teach participants about research methods, such as EEG and eye tracking, but how to best use these methods in research projects where young children are involved.
What makes examining babies and toddlers so different from research involving adults?
Mostly, adults will do exactly what you request, like sitting still or paying attention to conducting a task. Children, however, are constantly moving about and can only concentrate briefly, making it hard to explain a lot of different things to them. This does make matters more difficult, but is also the reason why doing research with children is so much fun! Conducting analyses, for instance, is much more complex. Ideas on how to conduct and interpret these are subject to continual improvement.
What will students learn from this Summer School?
They will learn about the choices you can and must make when conducting research with babies, and they will realise that these choices will have a major effect on your results. For example, they will learn that there are various eye trackers. One may be better at relocating eyes than the other. This is important, since children are more easily distracted and often look away from the eye tracker.
We will show participants how to deal with such errors, and how they influence your analysis. This also applies to EEGs: how can you determine which data actually represent the child's brain activity, and which data must be disregarded because he or she moved?
Who can join this Summer School?
We will be focusing on PhD candidates who are just starting out, preferably ones who have already worked with children. They will be aware of the problems you can encounter. I attended a comparable lecture when I was a PhD candidate, which is why I am so enthusiastic about this Summer School. At the time I had just completed my first study involving babies. There were a great many practical issues I had to deal with. That lecture provided tips you never come across in papers. Think about the gel you use for EEGs, for instance. Babies may start to cry sometimes because the gel is cold. The solution is so simple: make sure you warm it up in advance!
This Summer School was organised successfully two years ago, too. Have you changed any aspects?
We want to make it a more active experience. Last time we gave studentes the opportunity to ask questions, but hardly any were asked. We want to encourage participants to ask critical questions and to engage in discussion with one another by putting them to work during lectures. One way to do so could be to have them write a research proposal, and let them discuss this with one another afterward.
Other DoY Summer Schools in 2019
Dynamics of Youth
Dynamics of Youth is one of ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ's four strategic themes, and combines excellent child research from all seven faculties. Within Dynamics of Youth, researchers from different disciplines integrate their expertise to answer crucial questions for future generations. How can we help our children develop into balanced individuals, that are able to function successfully in a rapidly changing environment?