The purpose of this form is to provide you with information about taking part in a research study. If you have any questions, please ask us – you can call us at 858-534-7713 or email us at MaDlab@ucsd.edu.

Taking part in this study is up to you. If you decide to allow your child to take part in this study, we will ask you to sign this form. Our research team is the Mind and Development Lab, a member of the Kid Science Labs at UCSD. The person in charge of this study is Prof. Adena Schachner – you can reach her at schachner@ucsd.edu. Please print or save a copy of this document for your records.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲?
Prof. Adena Schachner is conducting this study to find out more about children’s developing understanding of the social and physical world. The study explores how children reason about social things, like faces or actions, and non-social things, like objects or natural events. How do children learn the ideas they need to understand actions, objects, and events? How do children learn about the individual people and objects they see?
Your child has been asked to participate in this study because we are currently investigating development at your child’s age level. Over several years, this study will include children between the age of 3 months and 18 years, and approximately 8,000 participating families.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲?
Your child’s participation will involve just one session, which may be very short (for example, 10 minutes), no longer than 30 minutes.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆?
In this research study, your child will participate in one or more short activities designed for children of their age. These activities will take place at your computer or mobile device with a webcam, from the comfort of your own home or location of choice.
Your child may join a video call with a trained researcher, and/or listen to a short story, see a short puppet show or video, or play simple games. For example, children may be asked to sort toys into categories, or interact with an age-appropriate game on the screen. The researcher may ask your child questions about the story or game. Older children will take part in similar games, designed for their age level: for example, they may be asked to read a story themselves instead of hearing it read to them. Alternatively, you may be asked to interact with your child (for example, by singing, speaking, or playing with toys).

𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗹
Taking part in this study is your and your child’s choice. Your child is free to not take part or to withdraw at any time for any reason, and you are free to withdraw your child at any time for any reason. No matter what you decide, there will be no penalty or loss of any benefit to which you and your child are entitled. If you decide to withdraw your child from this study or your child decides to withdraw from this study, the information that you have already provided will be kept confidential. You may choose to withdraw your child or your child may withdraw by telling the researcher that you or your child wish to stop participation in this study. Additionally, the researcher may withdraw your child from participating if the researcher believes that it is in the best interests of the child or the study.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆?
The study does not involve any risks or discomforts beyond those experienced in everyday life. There is a risk of your child becoming bored, but we try to avoid this by designing all tasks to be engaging to children, and keeping sessions short in length. As with any study, there is a risk of loss of confidentiality, so we take many steps to ensure that the records of this study and your child’s participation are kept confidential. Since this is an investigational study there may be some unknown risks that are currently unforeseeable. You will be informed of any significant new findings.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱’𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹?
We will keep the records of this study confidential by storing them on our secure and password protected server, on a password-protected computer in a locked room, and/or in a locked cabinet; by identifying participants by ID codes rather than names; and by only allowing laboratory personnel access to research materials. Publications and conference presentations of the data will not identify individuals and will present results of the group as a whole. Signed consent forms will be kept separate from the research data.

𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆?
Children typically enjoy participation, and you as a parent may enjoy learning about this research on children’s development. Your child’s participation will increase knowledge of how children learn.

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆?
You will receive an online gift certificate (e.g. $5 USD Amazon gift card), which may be used to purchase a small gift for your child for participating in this research.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆?
Aside from time, there are no known costs to you for participating in this research study.

𝗜𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼?
If you or your child have questions or concerns regarding this research, either now or at any time in the future, please feel free to contact our research team (858-534-7713 or MaDlab@ucsd.edu) or Prof. Adena Schachner (schachner@ucsd.edu). You may also obtain information about your child’s rights as a research participant by contacting the Human Research Protections Program Office at 858-246-4777.

We would like to record the study session for our records (for example, using your computer’s webcam), as a video, still images, or audio. In a video recording or in an image, it will be possible to identify your child or yourself; however we will keep the recordings confidential and only approved study staff will be able to see them. We will store the recordings on our secure and password protected server, on a password-protected computer in a locked room, and/or in a locked cabinet, and label them with a code instead of your name. The recordings will be securely stored for ten years, and then deleted.

Would you like to be contacted about future opportunities for your child to participate in research studies with the Kid Science Labs at UC San Diego? By providing information, you are not committing to participate in other studies – we’ll just ask you if you’re interested, when a new study is available.