You have been asked by Dr. Hilary Miller-Goldwater,PhD, Learning and Cognition Lab, Lawrence University Department of Psychology to have your child participate in a research project. The purpose of this research is to investigate how children learn spatial words and spatial skills to better improve these skills early in development. The participants in this research will be preschool-aged children (3- to 5-year-olds). The study will be conducted in the child’s preschool center. The study will involve 3 sessions that will each take about 15-20minutes. The sessions will take place about 1 week apart. The researchers will work with the preschool center to find good times to conduct the sessions,without interrupting daily learning activities.  This research has been approved by Lawrence’s Institutional Review Board, which protects human subjects. Participation is completely voluntary – you may withdraw or decline to have your child participate at any time without penalty.To withdraw, you can simply inform the principal investigator by contacting Hilary Miller-Goldwater, PhD by email (hilary.miller-goldwater@lawrence.edu) or phone (1-920-832-6705). The researchers also have the right to withdraw your child’s participation at any time. The researchers will always obtain verbal permission from your child before completing the session (known as assent). The researcher will also not conduct the session or will end sessions early if they notice that your child is uninterested in participating.  If you agree to have your child participate, the following will occur during the three sessions. A trained experimenter will play spatial games with your child that involve such activities as identifying spatial locations and describing spatial locations in scenes. Specifically, your children will play games where he or she will be asked to describe the location of the object (e.g., mouse) or find the object in a scene (e.g., farm). Other activities involve your child finding matching spatial relations (e.g., matching two spatial scenes that show the above location) and rotating objects. All the games are presented on paper.Through these activities, we both measure children’s spatial skills and observe their learning over the 3 sessions. The sessions will take place in a location decided by your child’s preschool center (e.g., in a corner of the classroom,hallway, or other room). We will audio record the sessions. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, there will be no more risk of harm than normally experienced in the child’s daily life; anticipated risks are minimal. Possible benefits of participating in this project include furthering knowledge of how to improve children’s spatial skills. However, there is no guarantee of any direct benefits to your child. Any knowledge that we gain from the study will be shared with you through a newsletter and shared with your preschool center. In terms of compensation, your children will receive small prizes (e.g., stickers) and your preschool centers will be given gifts, such as books and other school supplies.  Every effort will be taken to treat your child’s participation and data confidential. The preschool teachers will need to be aware that your child participated in the study as the teachers will help the researcher identify your child and find a place for your child to participate. Choosing to or not to participate will by no means affect your family’s relationship with the preschool. The researchers will keep a participant list with your child’s first name, the first initial of their last name. This list will only be used at your child’s preschool to identify your child. Optional demographic information will be collected (i.e.,gender, race, and ethnicity). All information that can identify your child(consent forms, participant list, and optional demographic form) will be kept in a locked cabinet in the Learning and Cognition lab at Lawrence University and only be accessible to researchers affiliated with the project. All the data that the researcher collects during the session (i.e., answers to study questions and audio recordings) will not include identifiable information. This data will be associated with a random identification code and be stored on a secure password-protected server as well as in locked cabinets in the lab. No information that personally identifies you or your child will be released or reported in any way unless required by law. The consent and demographic forms will be destroyed 3 years after group level data from the study is published in scientific journals. The deidentified data will be stored indefinitely.  You can ask the researcher any questions that would help you to decide whether to participate. If you have any questions, suggestions, concerns, or complaints that arise, you can contact Hilary Miller-Goldwater, PhD by email (hilary.miller-goldwater@lawrence.edu) or phone (1-920-832-6705).  If you have any questions about my rights as a participant, you can contact the Lawrence University IRB Chair: irb@lawrence.edu. If interested in having your child participate, please sign below as well as review the attached optional demographic and future contact form. Please return these forms to your child’s preschool.  

This form is optional to complete. The researcher will use this form for data analysis and reporting sample characteristics at the group level.Please fill in as much or as little information as you feel comfortable. Filling out this form does not affect your child’s participation in the study.

At the Learning and Cognition Lab, we have a variety of studies that look at children’s early learning as well as their language and memory development. We are located at Lawrence University. We often have other projects that your children may be eligible to participate in. If you are interested in possibly being contacted in the future about these opportunities, please complete this form. If you have any questions about these opportunities, you can contact the principal investigator, Hilary Miller-Goldwater, PhD by email (hilary.miller-goldwater@lawrence.edu) or phone (1-920-832-6705).