The Davis Family: Little Guinea Pigs

The boys and I just got home from Duke University where Drew and David participated in a research study at the Infant Cognition Center. I got a form in the mail from Duke after David was born asking if he could participate in research studies in the future and I figured why not. Just about every time I read about a new study on children, the research was done at either Duke or UNC. I never wondered who had to drag their kids to such a thing but now I know, Mom's who deliver their kids in the Triangle area. A staff member called a few weeks ago and asked if David could come in. She started explaining the study and when she mentioned computer screens, numbers and counting I asked her if she meant to see my three year old instead. But no, she meant David and was thrilled to know that I also had a three year old and hoped I could bring them both. So today was the day and it was actually a neat program. David sat in a high chair in front of three computer screens and watched a bunch of white dots flash on each screen. They were trying to prove that infants know quite a bit about numbers although they can't communicate it. One screen had more dots than the others so they expected him to look at that one more, or something along those lines. I'm not really sure what Drew was asked to do because I wasn't invited into the testing room. I could hear them talking a lot about numbers and I heard Drew count a few times. I also heard him interrupt her to talk about dinosaurs, his baby brother and all of the characters in Madagascar. Actually, she must have had some toy monkeys in the room because she and Drew were both talking about monkeys and then Drew started talking about the monkeys in Madagascar. That led to discussions about Melman, Gloria, Alex and the rest of the clan. All in all I guess the boys were helpful in the study. The researcher said they did great and she gave David a bib and let Drew pick out a toy from the toy box. He had a hard time choosing (they had some awesome stuff!) but decided on a Star Wars lightsaber. I think Drew is a tad smarter just from being in the study or maybe from just walking around the Duke campus. He was playing with a "telescope" (paper towel roll) when we got home and said he wanted two telescopes. When I told him we only had one he said, "Then I'll get my scissors and make two" and that's what he did. I was pretty impressed as I watched him cut the roll in half. I've included a few pictures from this week although I haven't taken many...