Some Interesting Baby Experiments to Try at Home!

Since I started taking developmental psychology module, I come across so many intriguing experiments that I wish I could try on babies myself! It's always so adorable and sometimes so unbelievable that I have also been one of those babies! 

So these are few of those experiments that you can give it a try at home to your own baby or any neighbor's babies! 

(Many experiments introduced here are related to Piaget's theory)

1. Object Permanence- Out of Sight, Out of Mind.

Basically it means that for babies who are 0-2 years old (sensorimotor stage), when they see an object, they try to reach it. However, when it's quickly covered by blanket, they no longer search for it, implying they do think it does not exist when it's invisible. 

So testing this is very simple.

Just show some doll to a baby, and see if she tries to reach for it. Then, quickly cover the doll with blanket and see how she reacts. 

This is the successful clip: 

This is the failure clip:

Don't worry even when baby fails. Children have individual differences. 

2. Conservation Tasks- Really bigger? 

It means that even when the object looks different appearance wise, babies do not understand that they still have the same quantity. 

There are several of these tasks.

One of them is: Pour same amount of water in two identical, normal mugs. Ask the children if they have same amount of water. Most likely they will say yes. Then, move water from one cup to really wide and flat basin, so that the water level gets low but in a wider surface area. Ask them which is more. Many children younger than 7, usually answer the mug has more water, even when they watched the process of transferring water to the basin! 

There is other variation with coins, clay and such.

So adorable! 

3. Class Inclusion Task

So this task simply tests whether children have an idea of hierarchical classification. Piaget claims that children cannot focus on whole and its parts simultaneously.

Testing this is very simple: Maybe prepare 5 gold coins and 2 silver coins, altogether 7 coins. And ask the child whether there are 'more gold coins than COINS', not silver coins, but just coins, meaning every piece of coin there.

Many say there are more gold coins than coins, not aware that gold coins belong to coins! Interestingly, even when you ask them to count each of gold coins, silver coins and the whole coins, and they answer correctly, they will still say there are more gold coins than coins. 

http://tusb.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Child-pic3.jpg

So hope you guys have fun trying these tests at home, and finding out the mystery of cognitive development in children!