Cognitive Flexibility Training and Communication (Ages 3.5 to 4.5 years old)

The purpose of this study is to determine if children’s cognitive flexibility (namely, the ability to think about something in multiple ways) relates to communication skills within children aged 3.5 - 4.5 year olds. Your child will be asked to participate in a game that asks children about colours/shapes, three games looking at thinking skills, and three language/communication activities. In addition, you will be asked to complete one questionnaire about your child and family demographics.  The study takes place at the Cognitive Development Lab, which is on the University of Waterloo campus and the session will likely take 45 minutes.

Findings from this work will have implications for theoretical models of communication as well as applied relevance for how to provide experiences that bolster children’s ability to communicate successfully with others.

Parents interested in participating in this study have a few options:

  1. Book an appointment to come in directly by following these steps:

    • Go to our scheduling platform “picktime” by following this link: https://www.picktime.com/CognitiveDevelopmentLab  
    • Choose the type of study your child is participating in – Communication Study.
    • Next “choose a team member”– Communication Study Researchers
    • Choose a time that works for your visit to the lab.  (If none of the timeslots displayed fit into your schedule, or you would like for us to book something for you, please reach out to us and we will try our best to accommodate a time that works best for you and your family.)
  2. Email our lab at childresearch@uwaterloo.ca expressing interest;
  3. Sign up to Join our Participant Database – and a researcher will get in touch with you.