Current Research

Get Involved with CDL Studies: Current Research Opportunities for CDL Families

The CDL is partnering with the Development of Intergroup Social Cognition (DISC) Lab this Spring 2025. The DISC Lab studies the mechanisms that underlie children’s evaluations of social life. The DISC Lab asks questions about how children think about similarities and differences, ingroups and outgroups, and preferences and interests. Please note the DISC Study that will be hosted at the CDL Spring 25 is recruiting CDL children who are children 4+ years old.

Approach as explained by the DISC Lab:

Dr. Ashley Jordan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Primary Investigator of the Development of Intergroup Social Cognition (DISC) Lab. The research of the DISC lab aims to understand how young children understand the world and the different groups around them.  We’re interested in how kids fit or do not fit into different social groups.  We are looking for interested and dedicated CDL families with children who are 4 years of age or older to participate in this exciting new study!  Future studies from the DISC lab may recruit children from 2-12 years of age.

Findings from the DISC studies could inform improved interventions for children across many different backgrounds that will foster inclusion and acceptance. This is an ongoing study in which children’s responses to images, stories, and games will be recorded. Parents also have the opportunity to participate via survey completion about your child and how adults think about children. If parents also choose to participate by filling out those surveys, they will be eligible for a $5 gift card!

All CDL parents will need to fill out a consent form opting in to or out of the DISC project.

Who is involved?

To the left: Scholar and Principal Investigator Dr. Ashley Jordan, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, School of Letters and Science, UW-Madison

To the right: DISC Team, including Lab Manager Sarah Ramsey and Research Assistants

DISC Study Informational Meeting for CDL Parents (2.28.25) & PDF of Meeting Q&As:

DISC Study CDL Parent Zoom Mtg QAs_AJordan_2.28.25

Current Online Research Opportunities

Online Research Studies at UW-Madison:

• Dr. Heather Kirkorian and colleagues from Georgetown University are recruiting for a a week-long online survey study on parents’ experiences and perceptions of media. You may qualify for this project if you are 18 years or older, have at least one child who is under 2 years old (~23 months old), own a smartphone or tablet, speak and read English sufficiently, and are a U.S. citizen currently living in the U.S. Parents in this project receive up to $50 in an e-gift card. For more information, please visit our website at https://elp.georgetown.edu/portfolio/cafe-consortium/. Click here to set up a 30-minute video chat to learn more about the project or contact cafestudy@sohe.wisc.edu .
• Lucretia Fairchild, a PhD student in Human Development & Family Studies, is offering free training for parents and caregivers of toddlers who are 12 to 48 months old. Participate online via video conferencing to learn strategies for particular aspects of promoting your child’s development, keeping your toddler safe and healthy, and having quality interaction with your toddler. The training session will take approximately 2 hours. Additionally, follow-up for 2 weeks afterward consists of a daily log, online questionnaires, and 2 phone calls with the researcher. You will receive $70 if you complete the full study. Currently, trainings for January-March are being scheduled. Email toddlerparent@sohe.wisc.edu to sign up!
• Yi Tong, PhD student in Dr. Haley Vlach’s Learning, Cognition & Development Lab is inviting parents of Mandarin Chinese-English bilingual children ages 4-6 to participate in an online study to investigate how to better support bilingual children’s word learning across contexts. Children will be read a storybook where they learn new words, and their Mandarin Chinese and English vocabulary will also be assessed. The study will be conducted via Zoom and will take approximately 60 minutes. After completion, families will be compensated with a $20 Amazon gift card. If you are interested in participating, please use the following link to sign up (https://calendly.com/lcd-lab-virtual-study/man-eng-bilingual) or email Yi at tong33@wisc.edu.
• Dr. Haley Vlach’s Learning, Cognition & Development Lab currently has online studies available for children ages 2 to 7 years old. For these virtual studies, your child and a parent or guardian will be invited to a video call with a researcher from the LCD Lab. The process will be similar to an in lab study. To learn more and schedule a session, please email lcd.lab@education.wisc.edu.
• Dr. Seth Pollak’s Child Emotion Lab currently has a study for 4-year-olds on how children use words to learn about different emotions. If you’re interested in having your child participate, sign up here. Dr. Pollak’s lab is also recruiting 10- to 13-year-olds for a study about how children use reward information to make decisions, sign up here.
• Dr. Martha Alibali’s Cognitive Development & Communication Lab is inviting children in grade 7 to participate in a study that explores how children think about data. To learn more or sign up for this Interpreting Data study, please email cogdevmath@psych.wisc.edu.

Online Research Beyond UW-Madison:

• Children Helping Science is a website that  studies parents and children can participate in from home, from universities all around the world. Visit their website to find studies for children between 0-17 years of age, as well as studies for parents.

Current Research Studies Outside the CDL

• This study involves:
• A 45-60 minute session with you and your child
• A recording of the session for analysis
• The study session must be completed in-person at UW-Madison Computer Sciences Building (room number provided later)
• Participants will receive a $50 Amazon gift card upon completion.
• Potential parking fees will be reimbursed.

Are you the white parent or guardian of a 4-8 year old child? Is your family engaged in social and racial justice learning together?

We want to hear from you! Scan QR code for more information about this study. Kerr Parent Lab University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The UW Department of Psychiatry is looking for women age 25 or older who have or do not have symptoms of PTSD and a 6-8 year old daughter to participate in a research study. Participation includes clinical interviews and questionnaires about mental health and behavior of both mother and child. If eligible, participants may be asked to participate in an MRI instead of behavioral tasks at WisPIC. Participants will receive up to $150 for completion of study visits and behavioral tasks at WisPIC, OR up to $275 for completion of study visits and the MRI session.

Please contact the Women’s Mental Health Program at 608-265-0767 or womensmentalhealth@psychiatry.wisc.edu for more information and to see if you qualify for participation.

The Infant Learning Lab

Interested in helping us study how children learn language? Check out this flyer to learn more: ILL Digital Flier

ECHO Study

Dr. Anne Marie Singh and the University of Wisconsin Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine are looking for expectant parents to join the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Study. ECHO is looking at how early life environments and experiences affect childhood development. Expectant parents who meet the following criteria may be eligible to enroll: are 18 years of age or older, are less than 20 weeks pregnant and plan to deliver in Madison, WI. For more information about ECHO or to enroll in the study: call us at (608) 228-9590, email ECHO@medicine.wisc.edu or fill out the intake questionnaire.

Ongoing Research Studies Outside of the CDL from Prior Years

Dr. Julie Poehlmann and Dr. Douglas Dean with the Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) study are looking for several babies between the ages of 3-months-old and 9-months-old to come to the Waisman Center at UW-Madison for a 1-hour practice EEG session. The purpose is to practice applying the cap-like EEG net on babies of different ages as well as running the 4 EEG tasks. If interested, please email hbcd@bi.wisc.edu or call 608-265-6541.

Dr. Douglas Dean’s research lab at the Waisman Center is recruiting infants between 1-24 months with and without an older sibling with autism for a study on early brain and behavior development. For additional information about this study, please email babysibs@bi.wisc.edu or call 608-262-6706.

Dr. Martha Alibali’s Cognitive Development & Communication Lab is recruiting kindergarteners, 1st graders, and 2nd graders to participate in a study that looks at how children think and learn about patterns with shapes and numbers. To learn more or sign up for the Patterns Perceptual Support study, please email cogdevmath@psych.wisc.edu.

Dr. Susan Ellis Weismer and Dr. Jenny Saffran are looking for children to participate in research on the UW-Madison campus about how toddlers learn language. They are looking for typically developing children 18-24 months old and children with diagnosed or suspected ASD between 24 and 35 months. Complete this online sign-up to participate.

The Women’s Mental Health Program (WMHP) is led under the direction of Dr. Stowe within the Dept. of Psychiatry at UW-Madison. Dr. Stowe conducts psychological research with pregnant women, new mothers, and their children. The primary goal of WMHP is to understand the transgenerational effects maternal mental health and trauma exposure can have on the behavioral, neural, and psychological development of her child. To inquire about current research projects please email womensmentalhealth@psychiatry.wisc.edu.

UW-Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds often recruits people from all ages and backgrounds to improve well-being. If you are interested in participating in research at the Center, you can join the participant registry.