The Social Development Lab is a Developmental Psychology research lab in the Department of Psycholog
The Social Development Lab is part of the Developmental Psychology Area in the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo. Take a moment to learn about who we are, why we are interested in children’s social and emotional development, and most importantly how you and your child can become involved in our studies.
08/10/2022
New research coming out from our lab, take a read! 📚🤓
Trajectories of socially anxious behavior from age 5 to 13: Temperamental and sociocognitive pathways The authors examined temperamental and sociocognitive predictors of socially anxious behavior from preschool to early adolescence. Children (N = 227; 59% male; 69% White) completed a speech task at a...
The Social Development Lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo is seeking typically developing children 9- to 11-year-olds along with a parent or guardian to participate in an online study that is investigating how temperament (i.e., shyness vs. sociability) influences children’s ability to to navigate their social worlds, particularly how children communicate with one another over time.
This project is expected to be an enjoyable experience for you and your child. The study will require three online sessions with members of the Social Development Lab from the University of Waterloo. All three online sessions will involve your child playing games with another child, completely online, to study how they interact with peers their age. The first online session will last approximately 90 minutes. The next two online sessions will be approximately 45 minutes, where your child will interact again with the other child that they met in the first visit.
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*If you have a couple hours to spare in the next few months and are looking for something fun to do, please fill out our pre-screen form (https://bit.ly/3uAKFch) or reach out to us by email at [email protected] to sign up.*
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Eligibility
Participants must be 9 to 11 years of age and have a parent willing to participate. To participate in the study, children should be full-term birth with no complications, and without a formal diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children will also need access to the internet and a quiet room. What will you be asked to do? Parents or guardians will complete a series of questionnaires assessing their child’s typical behaviors and emotions in different situations. Simultaneously, children will complete a computerized game and a series of questionnaires with a research assistant. The child will also complete paired games with another child and be videotaped during these games.
Remuneration
In appreciation for their time, your child will be given a choice of a gift card to Amazon.ca or Conestoga Mall: $20.00 for the first online session, and $15.00 for each of the subsequent two online sessions they attend. This is a total of $50.00 towards a gift card for all three online sessions.
Confidentiality
All of the personal information we collect is considered strictly confidential and individual results will not be shared with anyone, nor will names be written on any data.
This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee.
06/25/2021
Check out some research from our colleagues here at UWaterloo!
Toddlers and Preschoolers Understand That Some Preferences Are More Subjective Than Others Four experiments examined Canadian 2- to 3-year-old children’s (N = 224; 104 girls, 120 boys) thoughts about shared preferences. Children saw sets of items, and identified theirs and another person’s...
05/31/2021
The Social Development Lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo is seeking parents of children 6 – 8 years old currently living in Ontario to contribute to an online study in which we are examining the associations between children’s contact with peers and their everyday emotions and behaviours during the pandemic. This study will include a series of online questionnaires over the span of 3 month. This study has been reviewed and has received ethics clearance through the University of Waterloo Research Ethics Board. You will be asked to complete a short set of online questionnaires once a month for the next 3 months. Each online session will take approximately 20 minutes.
Eligibility
Participants must be a parent/guardian of a child who is 6 to 8 years of age.
What will you be asked to do?
Participants will be asked to complete an online questionnaire about their child’s typical behaviours and emotions and their own experiences over the past month. In the first session, you will be asked to complete a consent form followed by questions about family demographics and a series of questions about your child’s daily activities over the past month. In the second and third sessions (approximately 1 month and 2 months from the first session), you will be asked to complete only the consent form and the measures about your child’s daily activities, their typical behaviours, and emotions and your own experiences.
Remuneration
Following each online session, you will be remunerated with a $10 Amazon gift card by e-mail (for a total of $30 by the end of the study).
Confidentiality
All of the personal information we collect is considered strictly confidential and individual results will not be shared with anyone, nor will names be written on any data.
TO PARTICIPATE OR LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STUDY E-MAIL CONNIE YE AT sdl@uwaterloo
02/24/2021
Is your child learning English as a second language?
We are looking for parents with children aged 4 to 12 to complete an online study about their child’s English language learning and language background. In total the study should take approximately 1 hour to complete. For your participation, you will receive a $10 gift card to your choice of Amazon.ca, Wal-Mart or Chapters & Indigo. Click the link to sign up: https://uwaterloo.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aazbcyqBadIklBY
The study is in English, however, if you would like the study in a language other than English, we are happy to accommodate your request. Some more information about the study can be found below.
We are interested in how children from all different types of language background learn English. The study consists of a few questionnaires to be filled out by a yourself (the parent or guardian) and two tasks to be completed with your child. We will ask you questions about your and your child’s language background, your child’s English learning and some demographic questions. There will also be a task where we ask you to record your child telling a story, and another where they answer some questions about their friends.
For more information about this study, you may contact the primary researcher at [email protected]. This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee.
02/01/2021
We've moved online!!
Looking for new things to do with your child? Do you think your child would enjoy participating in science? If your child is between the ages of 3-7, they are eligible to sign-up for one of our short studies on how children think. Participation is easy, fun, and free! Children get a certificate at the end and a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card. Our researchers are based at the University of Waterloo but you can participate in our activities from home over video chat!
For more information about our studies, please visit https://www.uwcoral.ca/
To sign-up, please visit https://www.uwcoral.ca/sign-up
If you have any questions, you can contact us at [email protected]
11/03/2020
Today, we walked to support thrive week with . It might not have been sunny, but our smiles did shine! 😊🌞🚶♀️🚶♀️
10/15/2020
“I’m now trying to uncover what sets apart the thriving refugee students from those that struggle,” says Serena McDiarmid, a PhD candidate in Psychology and new Vanier scholar.
Serena’s research aims to support the second language acquisition of child refugees. Learn more about her research: https://bit.ly/372LhhS
08/24/2020
Meet Our Dr. Henderson!
The Professor Network: Meet Dr. Heather Henderson! Meet Developmental Psychologist Heather Henderson who talked to us about the incredible research she does with her Social Development lab at UW. Dr. Henderso...
08/11/2020
Will our kids be alright? Join University of Waterloo Faculty of Arts researchers, in partnership with Kitchener Public Library, to explore the short and long-term social and developmental consequences of , and how we can deal with the effects.
Register today: https://bit.ly/2DT2xts
06/23/2020
New paper out from our Shyness and Executive Functions Study. Send us a DM if you're interested in more! Thank you to all of our participants and families!