Mercer Times

The Cognitive Development Lab at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), commonly known as "the baby lab," is seeking new participants for its research. Located in the Social Sciences Building on campus, the lab is directed by Aimee Stahl, an associate professor of psychology. Her work focuses on understanding how infants and children learn.

Equipped with toys, games, and a puppet stage, the lab uses these tools not just for entertainment but to gather data. Video cameras record the children's reactions during various activities to provide insights into their learning processes.

Stahl notes, "What we’ve found is that babies watch unexpected events for a longer period of time than expected events," indicating they are more engaged in learning from these occurrences.

Currently, three studies are being conducted by Stahl and her student researchers:

One study examines how preschoolers identify effective teachers. It explores whether children prefer learning from surprising individuals over those who are not surprising. Puppets perform either a magic trick or an ordinary event before teaching something new to the child. Researchers then assess which puppet the child prefers as a teacher.

Another study investigates how many hidden objects children can track simultaneously through a hide-and-seek game involving searching inside a box for hidden items and assessing memory retention.

The third study explores infants' preferences for exploring objects based on their behavior—whether they act in surprising or expected ways. Infants observe either a surprising event (such as a ball passing through a wall) or an expected one (like the ball stopping at the wall). They then have an opportunity to play with both a ball and another toy while researchers measure playtime duration with each object.

Visits to TCNJ's baby lab last approximately 30 minutes, although each study takes only 5-10 minutes. The remainder of the visit involves playing in the playroom under parental supervision throughout all activities.

Parents interested in participating can find more information about TCNJ’s Cognitive Development Lab and sign up online at tcnjcogdevlab.com.