Behind the scenes of research participation at the Waisman Center: Infant Learning Lab

By Charlene N. Rivera-Bonet | Waisman Science Writer

It was only a five-minute task but for toddlers like 19-month-old Oliver, five minutes of undivided attention can be a lot. But he did it! He sat on his mom’s lap for five full minutes while looking at different pairs of images on a screen, a task that helps researchers learn more about language development in kids.

Oliver’s visit to the research lab was made as fun and engaging as possible. Attending to the little details, Narindra Andrisoamampianina, lab manager at the Infant Learning Lab at the Waisman Center, put out toys she knew Oliver would like before he arrived. She’s gotten good at guessing what the kids will enjoy based on their age, and anticipates this to create a fun environment for their visit to the Waisman Center.

The room itself is fun. It has colorful art on the walls, a fish tank, and many toys and books for young kids. When Oliver and his mom, Megan, first walked in, Oliver was excited to play with the toy animals. He also showed off his skills by naming different animals pictured on the walls.

Meanwhile, Megan filled out surveys about Oliver’s language skills and Narindra explained what the research participation visit was going to look like.

The Infant Learning Lab is led by Waisman investigator Jenny Saffran, PhD, Letters & Science Mary Herman Rubinstein Professor of Psychology. The lab focuses on studying how infants and young children learn language, learn the meaning of words, find patterns in language and track the properties of speech. “It’s important to study language as early as we can study it, because babies are learning it as early as you can possibly imagine,” Saffran says. “So, we want to understand what those early processes look like. We are also interested in using that information to help think about where things might not be working in typical ways for some young children.”

Research participation is an essential component of Saffran’s lab and many other labs at the Waisman Center. It is required to fulfill the center’s mission of advancing the knowledge about human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases through research in the biological, behavioral, and social sciences.

There are more than 25 different university departments represented at the Waisman Center, more than 40 principal investigators with their labs at Waisman, and more than 20 affiliates. About half of those labs do human research, with topics spanning from autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and fragile X syndrome to language acquisition, hearing, development, and aging among many others.

Some studies require visitors to come to the Waisman Center, but others can be performed at home. People of all abilities can participate, from infants to older adults.

The visit

Participation in research from volunteers contributes to creating new knowledge and moving science forward. “If we can help in any way, we are happy to do that,” Megan says. The project Oliver participated in, called ALIGN, is particularly interested in trying to understand more about the earliest words that babies understand.

Megan and Oliver walked into a dimly lit chamber with a few screens, a speaker, and an eye-tracking device. Oliver sat on his mom’s lap while he watched the screen. Outside, Narindra set up the five-minute task.

The simple, yet highly informative task consisted of pairs of images shown, for example, a dog and a bird, while a voice says “Where is the dog?” They then tracked whether Oliver’s eyes shifted to the picture of the dog.

This was Oliver’s first time participating in research, and Megan was impressed with how well he did on the task. “I was really impressed by how engaged he was with that video. I would have thought that he would be wiggling a lot more which is probably an indication of the video that you guys have developed being able to keep his attention,” Megan says. “Five minutes is a long time for Oliver, but he did really well. Whatever it was must have captured his attention.”

This comes from decades of experience. “I just have a lot of years of experience doing this sort of work,” says Saffran, who has published more than 100 papers on how babies learn language. “So, I have a decent idea about how long a study can be for a particular age group, and what we might need to do to keep them interested. We definitely have some tricks of the trade through a lot of experience doing this sort of work,” she adds.

Saffran is involved in the design of the studies, and collaborates with her graduate and undergraduate students, and postdoctoral fellows in the lab on figuring out research questions and the methodology to answer them.

Narindra, in addition to making sure the lab runs smoothly by supervising students and handling the budget, works to make the research visits a fun and pleasant experience for both children and their parents. In addition to the toys, colorful walls, and fish tank, “all of our lab members also love interacting with infants and toddlers, so we always try our best to talk to the children, play with them, and ask them funny questions,” Narindra and members of the Infant Learning Lab explain.

Once Oliver was done with the study – and giving the fish a disco party by changing the colors of the tank’s light – he got to select a gift. “Don’t be Afraid, Little Ones,” was his book of choice.

“No matter how well they did during the study – whether they watched the entire videos or cried anytime during the videos – we always give them a gift for participating at the end of the study,” Narindra says. Participants in Saffran’s lab and all throughout Waisman are compensated for their time and contribution. Researchers are aware of the importance of volunteers and go above and beyond to make this experience worth it and beneficial for both parties. This can be in monetary form, or in gifts. “It is important to compensate participants because we are asking them to select a portion of their time to participate in our study and to commute to the Waisman Center, a time that they could be doing something else, so compensating them is a way for us to acknowledge their efforts and contributions to our research,” Narindra and members of the Infant Learning Lab explain.

Sometimes, such as in the labs of Waisman investigators Sigan Hartley, PhD, and Audra Sterling, PhD, volunteers that come from out of town are placed in a hotel for the duration of their visit, in addition to getting meals, their mileage covered, and monetary compensation. Families such as the Westemeiers and the Doughertys (who drive all the way from Florida) look forward to these trips and make a little vacation out of their research visit.

Process of approval

Before a child, or volunteer of any age, participates in a study, a long list of tasks needs to be completed. “We have to demonstrate to the IRB that we’re following all the necessary ethical guidelines,” Saffran says. The IRB, or Institutional Review Board, is a part of the university that makes sure that every study on campus that has human participants follows all necessary research ethics in accordance with federal regulations, state laws, and local and university policies. In other words, they make sure all studies involving human participation are safe and ethical.

Investigators also need to secure funding for their research by demonstrating to funding organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health, that the questions they are trying to answer are not just interesting, but also important.

How recruitment works

After a study is approved and receives funding, it’s time to recruit participants. There are multiple ways in which volunteers get connected to research studies. One way it is done at Waisman is through the Clinical Translational Core’s research registries. Volunteers can sign up to specific registries to be contacted by researchers for studies they meet the criteria for.

Researchers at Waisman can also recruit through the Waisman Center Clinics and the early childhood program. Many patients attending the Waisman Center Clinics can be referred to research studies based on their diagnosis. Children enrolled at the Waisman Early Childhood Program also often participate in research. Additionally, a list of research studies currently recruiting volunteers is always available on the website for anyone to access.

Although there are many other ways of recruiting, word of mouth is also an effective one. That’s how Megan found out about Saffran’s study – through a friend whose daughter had participated as well. This is yet another reason why ensuring a good experience is important, volunteer support can go a long way.

After a person signs up for a research study, they fill out and sign a consent form that explains in detail every part of the study including purpose, protocols, risks, benefits, timelines, compensation, and confidentiality. However, signing this does not bind the participant to a study and they may withdraw at any point without any consequences.

Although the study described here is from Jenny Saffran’s lab, it is a good representation of research participation throughout Waisman. Not every lab has a tank full of fish with colorful lights to play with, but they all have their own appeals. What they do share is the desire to develop new knowledge and understandings of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegeneration, as well as the utmost respect for the research participants that are key partners in making this happen.

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