Sunday, April 27, 2008

Little Man on Campus

Island Boy has already had his first visits to a major university where he has been a voluntary subject for several scientific research studies. These particular studies involved language and cognitive development but I must say that the purpose of the studies is not always intuitively obvious to the casual observer.

As far as Island Boy was concerned these studies were an opportunity to play. One involved locating toys in the sand. Another involved being introduced to a variety of toys one by one and having to hand them back to the researcher. I have to admit, as cooperative as my little boy was, he eventually found this a bit trying. Who wouldn't? "Here's a toy. Ok, now give it back." Yeah, we got tired of that one.

Still, we had fun and did our little part to contribute to scientific research. The researchers seem very grateful and I'm not surprised. It turns out it's not that easy to find toddlers running around college campuses volunteering for research studies! If you happen to live near a college or university big or small, give them a call to see if you can help out.

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