Nottingham Toddler Lab

Research into Perceptual and Cognitive Development

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• Meet the Toddler Lab team
• Current Studies
• Past Studies
• What's New?
• What happens in a toddler lab session?
• How to find us
• Can you and your toddler or baby help?
• Keep in touch
• Useful Links

• How are we funded?
• Friends of the Toddler Lab

What Happens at a toddler lab session?

One of the toddler lab team will contact you by telephone to arrange an appointment for you and your toddler to come and see us.
The Toddler Lab is in the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham. When you come for your appointment one of our team will be waiting to meet you in the main foyer of the School of Psychology building.

School of Psychology Building

Before the session begins the researcher will give your toddler some time to settle in to the new surroundings. During this time she will spend a few minutes explaining what she will do in the session and will answer any questions you might have.

What activities will my toddler take part in?

Your toddler will be given some assessments of his or her development. All these assessments are presented as a series of games and activities that are designed to be fun and enjoyable for children of this age. For example, they will include activities such as picture book reading, drawing, telling stories, doing puzzles, sorting shapes, playing with bricks etc. Some assessments are also presented as a computer game using a touchscreen - these have proved very popular with our toddler volunteers!

All the assessments at the Toddler Lab are widely used by researchers all over the world, or have been designed by our team specially for assessing different aspects of toddlers’ development. The exact assessments that your toddler has will depend upon the study that you are taking part in. The tests used most often in the Toddler Lab are designed to assess thinking, memory, language, colour vision, attention, and tests of early reading and number skills.

One of our toddlers having his language assessed using the Preschool language Scale (Zimmerman et al., 1992)*

One of our toddlers having his colour vision assessed using the Colour Vision Test Plates for the Infants (Matsubara, 1957).**

One of our toddlers playing a colour game

One of our toddlers playing a different colour game

Will I find out about the results of the tests?

The researcher will explain the results of the assessments to you. Sometimes the researcher will need some time after the session to work out the results. If this is the case, the researcher will call you at home later to explain the results to you. Please ask the researcher as many questions as you like while you are at your session, she will be happy to chat with you.

How long will the session last?

A session at the Toddler Lab will usually last about 2 hours, depending upon the study that you are taking part in. If the researcher feels that she is unable to complete all the assessments in one session, she might ask you to make another appointment if it is convenient with you.

Will I need to bring anything with me?

You will not need to bring anything with you to the session. There will usually be a short break in between the tests during which we will offer you and your toddler refreshments.

Are there any benefits of taking part in the Toddler Lab research?

Your toddler will not usually be given detailed assessments of his or her development like those used by the researchers at the Toddler Lab. It may be of interest to you if your child has these developmental assessments because the researcher will be able to give you the results.

Will my toddler be given anything for taking part?

Most of the studies at the Toddler Lab are funded by charitable organisations set up to further the medical care and education of toddlers and young children, and so we are unable to offer gifts for taking part. However, your toddler will be given a ñNottingham Toddler Labî certificate for helping us with our research, and some stickers for coming along to the session. We will also offer to reimburse your travel expenses to the session upon your request.

After the session . . .

After the session the researcher will explain the results of the assessments to you. If you have enjoyed your session at the Toddler Lab the researcher will ask you if you would like information about other studies currently being conducted. You might also like to your toddler to become a regular volunteer at the Toddler Lab so that he or she can take part in more studies in the future; you can do this by signing a registration form available at the Toddler Lab or by joining online. We are always looking for toddler volunteers and would be very grateful for your help

After the session you might like to visit the lakeside area just opposite the School of Psychology building Æ your toddler may like to visit the large playground by the lake, or you may like to stop and feed the ducks. There is also a restaurant in the Lakeside Building serving drinks and snacks.

The Playground area by the lake

The lakeside caf³ where you can have a drink and a snack or lunch.

The lakeside where you can feed the ducks!

We hope to see you soon at the Nottingham Toddler Lab!

* Zimmerman. I.L., Steiner, V.G. & Pond R.E. (1992). The Preschool Language Scale-3.

** Matsubara, H. (1957). Colour Vision Test Plates for the Infants.