Early Development Lab

10/13/2021

Do young children of the “selfie generation” understand digital photos as representations?

Do your littles understand that pictures can represent real events? It's surprisingly challenging for toddlers! Research from the Early Development Lab with Colleen Russo Johnson and Israel Flores

Many children are constantly photographed on smartphones by their families: They see live video of themselves that freezes into a “selfie” image depicting current reality. Despite this experience, 2-...

07/02/2021

Great ideas from our Sister Lab

06/30/2021

Zooming through development: Using video chat to support family connections

Good news for families about GOOD screen time WITH extended family, through the pandemic and beyond. Thank you for everyone who participated! Request the article here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352722751_Zooming_through_development_Using_video_chat_to_support_family_connections

Video chat may allow young children and grandparents to develop and maintain bonds when they are physically separated because it enables them to share experiences with each other in real time. We use...

06/09/2021

Video Chats Help Bond Grandparents and Their Young Grandchildren

Good news about video chatting during the pandemic. With a team from 5 universities and the LEGO foundation, supported by AARP.

Video chat helped grandparents overcome social isolation during the pandemic and maintain a vital connection with their young grandchildren.

05/26/2021

Parents - do you have a 4-year-old and an iPhone or iPad device? You and your child are invited to take part in our study where you can help us understand beliefs and motivations surrounding technology and digital media. You will be compensated a $25 gift card for your participation!

03/31/2021

The Vanderbilt University Early Development Lab is looking for participants for our latest project, "Including All Voices"! This fully virtual project seeks to determine the usability of an eBook being developed at Vanderbilt and gather feedback from parents to direct further development. All eligible families that participate will receive a $25 e-gift card. Interested families are encouraged to email the address below!

02/24/2021

A Pre-COVID Education Study With Big Implications for Remote Learning During the Pandemic: When Parents Take Over, Children Give Up Easier

Take-away from an important new study: Helping your children too much leads to less persistence in learning tasks.

* One lace loops to make the trunk. A squirrel runs around the tree, jumps into a hole at the bottom, and comes out the other side. Pull it though and… huzzah! * Teaching a child to tie their shoes isn’t always easy. If you’ve embarked on this painstaking task, watching as little fingers fumbl...

02/22/2021

Opinion | Your Kids Aren’t Too Old for Picture Books, and Neither Are You

Let's hear it for picture books!

These are the real wizards of the literary world.

02/15/2021

For all those parents with littles home on this snowy Nashville day...

11/26/2020

OK Play maker shares tips for the holidays and dealing with pandemic fatigue

Spreading the good word about gratitude and family bonding over video chat, former Early Development Lab member and Vanderbilt PhD grad Colleen Russo Johnson.

Chief Scientist and co-founder of OK Play and maker of the OK Play app, Dr. Colleen Russo Johnson, joined Morning Extra Wednesday to share tips to help us.

10/02/2020

How 'Ok Play' App is Combining Real and Digital Play for Kids

The developer, Colleen Russo Johnson, is a product of the Early Development Lab. Her parent-child play app (based on developmental psychology research) has a 5 star rating on Common Sense Media.

Dr. Colleen Russo Johnson, chief scientist and co-founder of The Ok Company, joins 'Cheddar Innovates' to discuss the new social-emotional learning app, 'Ok Play.'

09/04/2020

OK Play - Grow together through play, every day

Quote from children's media watchdog and advisor David Kleeman
: Hey, friends with young children, absolutely check out this new app. It's designed to suggest ways to play together, some interactive and on-screen, and many away from the screen. The ideas are simple, short enough to fit your busy days, and aligned with social and emotional needs (e.g., ideas for when your child is angry).
I can't tell you how many parents have asked me if something like this exists - a tool that will recommend new ideas for playing together when your brain is overloaded and you can't face another round of the same game you've played sixty bajillion times. 📷 The wonderful Dr.Colleen Russo Johnson [note: former EDL force of nature/grad student] is the Chief Scientist behind this venture. I've had a chance to test it out ahead of time, and it's lovely in intent, design, interaction and play ideas

Each day you get new activities that are easy to follow and designed to help you grow together. All you have to do is play.

09/03/2020

This new kids' app uses science to calm tantrums, inspire nice play and raised $11 million before it launched from Biz Stone, Ev Williams Josh Kushner, Will Smith, Lego and others

What former EDL member and Vanderbilt PhD graduate Colleen Russo Johnson has been up to recently. We are looking forward to doing research using this brilliant new app!

OK Play was inspired by Mr. Rogers and wants to help parents and kids play together in the real world to become happier people.

07/27/2020

New baby? Participate in our collaboration with Georgetown University!

Have you had a baby recently? Participate in 10 minute online research study!
https://georgetown.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ekQ8H74qxp9AyUZ

07/02/2020

Enhanced e-book helps close the word gap in children from families of low socio-economic status

From Vanderbilt News Service, and with thanks to the families who participated! "Can an enhanced e-book train parents in reading methods that facilitate parent-child conversations that can ultimately help close the word gap? Peabody Professor Georgene Troseth and her research team investigate the power of a questioning character in a narrated e-book. Here's what they found: https://bit.ly/31BVJdL "

New research from Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development asks whether the use of an enhanced electronic book can train parents in reading methods that facilitate parent-child conversations, which are known to spur preschool vocabulary development and the language processing sk...

07/02/2020

Calling all parents and grandparents of babies and preschoolers! Early Development Lab will be participating in this Georgetown led survey study.

Calling all grandparents! The ELP needs your help. Participate in this 10 minute online research study today!

https://georgetown.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eKzrERdxBvWwvVr

06/30/2020

Enhanced e-book helps close the word gap in children from families of low socio-economic status

Exciting press release about some of the eBook work we have done!

https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2020/06/29/enhanced-e-book-helps-close-the-word-gap-in-children-from-families-of-low-socio-economic-status/

New research from Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development asks whether the use of an enhanced electronic book can train parents in reading methods that facilitate parent-child conversations, which are known to spur preschool vocabulary development and the language processing sk...

06/09/2020

Confused About Screen Time and Disinformation? You Aren’t Alone.

Why we all (children too) need media mentors.

Media mentors are librarians, educators, and local experts who create space for talking about the online information ecosystem and what we want from it.

06/08/2020

Anyone with a 3- to 8-year-old who want to play games and contribute to science? Plus they get a gift for participating.
One of our friends and colleagues in Toronto doing superb developmental science.

Would you like to help the science of child development from the comfort of your home? We are a group of scientists at the University of Toronto-OISE studying the development of children's language and reasoning skills. Our studies involve meeting with a U of T scientist through video chat to participate in fun and interactive research.

Sign up today!
http://www.languageandlearninglab.com/for-parents/online-studies/

06/01/2020

Haskins Global Literacy Hub - Resource Library

A great new online resource for teaching children reading, science, and math. Backed by research.

Online resources for parents and educators on how to teach LITERACY, SCIENCE and MATHEMATICS.

05/20/2020

Is all that screen time harming children?

Balance screen time with real-world time. Talk with children, getting them to express themselves. And be gentle with yourself, parents.

Too much screen time makes your brain melt out of your ears, or at least that’s what I was told growing up.Luckily, that’s false, but amid

04/28/2020

Peabody engages, supports and adapts during COVID-19 outbreak

How lots of us at Peabody are engaging with the community nowadays, and sharing what we know from research (I'm in the video, talking about children and media during safer at home--edited to be crazy-fast).

Peabody College has found itself working in overdrive to continue meeting the needs of students while also supporting the many constituencies that make up a complex college offering undergraduate, graduate, and professional education.

04/22/2020

4/24 Virtual Event: At Home with the Child Experts: The Science of Screen Time During COVID-19

This 30-minute informal conversation gives parents and caregivers a chance to ask leading child development experts pressing questions about screen time during the coronavirus pandemic. What does the research say about adapting screen time rules? How can parents use screen time to help their kids maintain friendships and learn? Should parents have a plan for gradually reducing screen time again once at-home directives are lifted? Participants will have the option to submit questions in advance or post them in real time during the event.

04/13/2020

Screen Time Is Replacing Playtime — and That's Changing Kids’ Brains

Having balance when using screens, remembering that real-world play is important.

Smartphones and other tech pose special challenges — and opportunities — for young brains.

03/26/2020

Our screen-time rules don’t work in this new world. And maybe that’s okay.

Thoughts from Dr. Jenny Radesky, a mom and physician who helped write the AAP screen guidelines

With wide open days, social isolation and parents who must still work, what happens with those screens and the rules we’ve enforced for so long?

03/26/2020

Read Aloud

Another organization promoting read-alouds for language learning and fun.

Read Aloud 15 MINUTES is a non-profit organization that is bringing together partners nationwide to make 15 minutes of daily reading aloud the new parenting standard. When every child is read aloud to for 15 minutes every day from birth, more children will be ready to learn when they enter kindergar...

03/26/2020

Free Online Events and Activities for Kids at Home

Common Sense Media comes through with a new list of online activities and events for families!

Provide some structure and schedule to your family's day (updated regularly). Advice from Common Sense Media editors.

03/24/2020

Parents, cut yourself some slack on screen time limits while you're stuck at home

How important are screen time limits at a time like this? Good advice about what the really crucial limit is (screens and bedtime) and everything else.

Families may want to relax some of their usual rules for digital media use due to social distancing. But keeping bedtime screen-free still makes sense.

03/23/2020

10 shows for kids that are actually educational

On beyond Sesame Street. Old and new favorites.

When it comes to choosing TV shows for kids to watch, the sheer number of programs available can be overwhelming.

03/19/2020

3 smart ways to use screen time while coronavirus keeps kids at home

Helpful ideas for young stay-at-homes and their families. Links and video point to Vanderbilt research done with Gabrielle Strouse Colleen Russo Johnson Kate Duffy O'Doherty Israel Flores Zachary David

There are ways to use tech to help kids learn, explore their interests and get creative.

03/18/2020

Pediatrician: No Coronavirus Break Playdates. Here's Why.

Informative, clear, and serious/funny.

Looking ahead to more weeks at home during the outbreak can feel pretty bleak. But with coronavirus, playdates indoors are not the solution.

03/18/2020

#OperationStoryTime | Your Favorite Authors Host Story Time Online! - (cool) progeny

More great news for families

One of the (cool)est things we've seen during the COVID-19 shut-in --- beloved authors are hosting storytime online via Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube!

03/18/2020

11 children's TV shows to get you and your kids through self-quarantine

We in the EDL are 'cousins' to Odd Squad (one of the quality shows on this list) by marriage, through Colleen Russo Johnson

From 'Storybots' to 'Octonauts,' we round up a dozen TV shows that will keep your kids occupied — without making you pull your hair out in the process.

03/17/2020

Online Developmental Experiments Participation Questionnaire

Participate in research with your kids at home! It’s something fun to do while you’re hunkered down and it helps science!

This form to indicates whether you would be interested in being contacted by labs with information about enrollment in online studies. If you have multiple children, please fill out this form anew for each child. By completing this form, you acknowledge that developmental research labs may have acce...

03/17/2020

Online Developmental Experiments Participation Questionnaire

One of our colleagues has put up a google doc list of studies you and your children can participate in online, from home!

This form to indicates whether you would be interested in being contacted by labs with information about enrollment in online studies. If you have multiple children, please fill out this form anew for each child. By completing this form, you acknowledge that developmental research labs may have acce...