Abhi Elayidom, Week 5: Testing For a Different Study & Saying Goodbye

 

 

 

               Although this week was quitter than normal and less busy, I still had a lot of fun going testing and working in the lab. Not only did I work on the Seed Project and the Learned Empowerment Project, I also got to act as a confederate in another study that helps researchers better understand how children create hypotheses. The study uses a red machine which has a dial on one side (feature 1) and a knob (feature two) on the other and the children have to try to figure out which function makes the machine go. The procedure of the study takes place in the form of a skit in which the child is told that when the dial and the switch are in the right place and the dax (toy block) is on top of the machine, the machine will go and a part of the machine will spin. Although there are four different conditions in the study, I act as a confederate in only one of the conditions. In this particular condition, I have to act as a naïve individual who walks in on the experimenter and the child talking and I have to try to guess what makes the machine go. The purpose of the confederate’s presence is to make it seem as if the experimenter is the knowledgeable individual and that the confederate is naïve and doesn’t know anything prior to the procedure. Me guessing what makes the toy go makes the child feel more comfortable to choose which feature of the machine they think makes it go. In other words, the child can then confirm that they are not being fooled by a knowledgeable individual who already knows how to work the machine. Instead, they feel like they are learning alongside an individual who has the same knowledge level as them.

 

 

              

Going testing for this study this past week was a little different. Instead of going to a daycare, we decided to go to a zoo. The reason behind this was because during the summer, zoos hold camp sessions in which parents drop their kids off at the zoo and the kids get the opportunity to learn there. We set up in a little room in an academic building of the zoo and we ran a few kids through the procedure. This was the first time running the confederate condition as it was a new addition that was recently added to the study. Luckily, it turned out pretty well and since then, we have gone testing once more. We hope to continue to get positive results and that the tests run smoothly.

               Other than working on the Hypothesis Project with Elizabeth Lapidow, this week was also the week that I had to say goodbye to one of the people that I have grown closest to in the lab, Trisha. After she had gotten the confirmation email for her new job, we both had to discuss what would happen to the project. We went testing a couple more times and later in the week, we made packages with consent forms, stickers, and bookmarks to send home to the parents of the kids in our study. One thing that I have learned during my time with Trisha is how cool it is to learn about the background of your peers and coworkers. On her last day in the lab, while we were finishing up making the packages, I got to hear her endless amazing stories of her internship in the White House and her studying abroad semesters in Australia. It’s funny how time passes by so fast when you are working and learning alongside such accomplished individuals who have so much knowledge to share. This week was also her birthday so before she left, I got to give her a cute birthday gift to show my appreciation for the time that she spent with me.

 

               Lastly, during the week, I got to see a lot of presentations of the lab members of the Cognitive Computational Development Lab. It was amazing to see all of the work that they had done before I started coming to the lab and it was interesting to see all of the lab members putting so much effort and concentration into each other’s presentations. It was almost as if everyone was on one team and in order for one individual to be successful, they all had to pitch in and help out.

                    Overall, this week was amazing even though it included some hard times like saying goodbye to some of the most precious members of the CoCoDev Lab. Hopefully, the good times don’t stop and it just gets better during the next two weeks in the lab.