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What does participating in a study involve?
We perform a large set of studies that can involve different methodologies, depending on the age of the child and the main research question. Some studies take the form of a simple game: the child plays with the experimenter while performing an engaging task such as finding a hidden object. In other studies, babies watch images or short videos, and we record how they react to the action shown on the screen, what they look at, and for how long. We also have studies during which we measure the activity of the brain while showing a scene to analyze the relationship between cerebral/neural and mental development. Prior to the studies you will be given detailed information about the research that your child will be participating in, and during the studies you will be with your baby at all times.
How long do studies take?
Our studies usually last 5-10 minutes, but the whole visit takes about half-an-hour as we always make sure to have enough time for your baby to get familiar with the new people and environment, and we also provide facilities for feeding and changing your baby before or after the study.
How can I sign up?
When you contact us via telephone or email to volunteer for our research, our colleague will ask you to provide some data for our database (the infant’s name, sex, date of birth, and your contact information). When your child reaches the appropriate age range for one of our studies, we will get in touch with you to find a convenient date for your visit to the Babylab.
How long are my baby‘s data stored?
We keep the data of our participants in our database until they become 5 or 10 years old (according to the consent they provided), but we delete them any time upon request. Data is stored on password protected computers and can be accessed only by authorized personnel. We ensure that our procedures regarding data handling comply with the GDPR protocols.
Can I bring along my older child(ren) to the Babylab?
Yes, certainly! While you are participating in the study with your baby, our colleague will look after your older child(ren).
What can we learn from this research?
The goal of our studies is to understand the general characteristics of babies‘ mental development at various ages. Therefore we look at the infants‘ behavior as a group, rather than measuring individual differences. There are no „good“ or „bad“ answers in our studies. When a study has been completed, we will report our findings to the parents of all participants.
How did you get my address?
Budapest Babylab: The Hungarian law LXVI., passed in 1992, permits the Central Office for Administrative and Electronic Public Services to provide data from the state population registry for research purposes upon application. Our research has undergone a detailed review by this office and has been approved, giving us the right to periodically request the addresses of certain babies born in Budapest, including your child. This address is only used for addressing our letter and is not stored afterwards.
Vienna Babylab: We have filed an application with the Austrian Data Protection Authority for permission to request address data from the City of Vienna's local residence registry for scientific research purposes. According to our understanding, sec 16b MeldeG in conjunction with sec 7 DSG provides a legal basis to transfer personal data from the residence registry to scientific institutions for research purposes.
Who conducts the studies?
The studies are done by young post-doctoral researchers, Ph,D. students and trained research assistants.
Where is the research center?
Our research centers are located in two wonderful cities: Budapest and Vienna.
In Budapest you can find us at Október 6 street, close to the Bazilika, which can be easily reached by public transport. If you wish to drive to our center, we provide free parking in LIBERTY SQUARE Garage.
In Vienna we are currently in the process of opening our Babylab in Quellenstrasse 51, which can be easily reached by public transport. If you wish to drive to our center, we provide free parking in the building.
Looking forward to your visit! In case you have further questions do not hesitate to contact us at cdc@ceu.edu