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Reseach Studies at VT Opportunities

October 23, 2014

Hear My Emotions Project

We are looking for families with children ages 3 to 6 years of age to participate in our study on emotion recognition and regulation. This study involves a 60 minute long visit to the Cognition, Affect, and Psychophysiology (CAP) Lab (Williams 354) at Virginia Tech. At the end of the session, your child will be given a small toy as a thank you for participating. If interested in learning more, please contact Deanna Swain (swaindm@vt.edu). Study ends 12/20. 

 

Facial Expression Study Using Kinect Gaming Technology
We are looking for teenagers (12 to 17 year olds) to participate in a unique research study on facial emotion expression which uses Kinect gaming technology and eye tracking. Study will take approximately 1.5 hours to complete and takes place at the Child Study Center at Virginia Tech. You will be asked to complete some computerized tasks which will ask you to label and express emotions, in addition to filling out some questionnaires. Participant will receive $20. Contact Andrea Trubanova at atruban@vt.edu or 540-231-2024 to obtain more information & to sign up for the study.


Siblings and parents of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
(ASD) are sought for participation in a new study through the Virginia Tech Autism Clinic!

Who: Children in grades 1 through 8 with a sibling with an ASD (Autism, Asperger’s, or PDD-NOS). Children must currently live in the same home.

What: One visit for parent to fill out surveys (90 min.) and one visit for parent and sibling without ASD to participate in separate focus groups (60 min.)

Where: Blacksburg or Roanoke.

When: Flexible scheduling - daytime, evening, or weekend appointments available.

Participating parent must be primary caregiver, but other parent is welcome to participate, too! Compensation provided for each visit. f you are interested in participating, please contact Tyler Hassenfeldt at thassen@vt.edu or (412) 600-8304. Thank you for considering participating in our study!


Slow Down Program
Are you a mother with a child in grades K-5 for the 2014-5 school year? Would you like to learn a new way to approach eating with your family? Do you drink three or more sugar-sweetened drinks each day? (i.e. Soda, sweet tea, sports drinks, specialty coffee, etc.) This study will help you learn about slowing down for meals and reconnecting with food. You will learn strategies for enjoying food and sharing that joy with your family. To say thank you for your time, you will be compensated $10 - $60 on a gift card for participating in and completing the study.Participation involves completing a few short questionnaires, providing a salivary sample and participating in four group educational sessions. Each of the first three group meetings should take 60 minutes and the fourth will be 90 minutes. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information please contact Lauren Kennedy, kennedy0@vt.edu or call/text 540-808-5358.


The VT iLEAP lab is recruiting 3- to 18-month-old infants
for three studies examining developmental changes in learning across the first two years. The first study explores learning trajectories in the cognitive, social, and language domains at the following ages: 3-mo, 6-mo, 9-mo, 12-mo, 14-mo, 18-mo, and 24-mo. Infants will experience a variety of fun, colorful learning tasks at each age. In the second and third studies, infants’ abilities to learn novel word-object associations are tested under different conditions. For example, do 12- to 14-month-olds learn better when the speaker is happy vs. neutral? Also, does the presence of a female speaker help 13- to 15-month-olds learn difficult object names (e.g. BIN vs. DIN)? In Study 2, 12- to 14-month-olds and their mothers will also see a series of slides with adult females portraying two emotions. Finally, mom and baby will be recorded while playing naturally with toys for both the second and third studies. Participants will be provided $10 compensation for each hour-long lab visit. If you would like to participate in any of the studies listed above or would like any additional information, please email us at 
iLEAP_Lab@vt.edu or call 231-3972!


Children 12-18 and parents needed
for a study to determine the reliability and validity of a biomarker for beverage consumption and added sugar intake in adolescents. Study involves children completing beverage and theory-based questionnaires, food recalls, and two non-invasive fingerstick blood samples across 5 visits; approximated total time is <5 hours. Children will receive $50 upon completion.  If interested in participating please contact Carly in the Lab for Eating Behaviors and Weight Management. Phone: (540)-231-7918 or email: carlym@vt.edu 

Social Anxiety Research Project for teens 12-16
Parents, is your teen nervous or afraid in social situations? The Social Anxiety Research Project Can help. This program is open for teens between 12 and 16 years of age. Don't let anxiety keep your son or daughter from enjoying life. The treatment will be offered free of charge and qualifying families will receive payment ($50 for each assessment session). This payment is to offset the time and inconvenience to you since we are collecting questionnaires and administering some computerized tests to help us evaluate the treatment. All information is strictly confidential.If you wish to learn more about this project, please contact the Social Anxiety Disorder Project at (540) 231-8276.

Children 8-12 needed for a study examining how meal composition affects feelings about hunger and fullness. Participants must be: • Between the ages of 8-12 , Willing to drink a breakfast milkshake and have a small amount of blood drawn twice, In good health, without any food allergies or intolerances, Willing to provide information about their medical history, food and beverage intake, physical activity level, and body weight. Children may receive up to $50 as compensation for participating. If your child meets the above requirements and is interested in participating in this research study, please contact Madlyn Frisard, Ph.D. in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech. phone: (540) 231-9994 e-mail: frisardm@vt.edu

Working Mothers Focus Group

Participants are sought for a focus group to help us learn more about you and your family’s eating habits. Participation involves attending one introduction meeting and participating in three focus group discussions. You will take pictures of your weekly eating experiences using your cell phone camera or a camera that we could provide. Each focus group meeting should take between 60-90 minutes. To say thank you for taking the time to talk with us, you will be compensated a total of $50 in a Target gift card for participating in and completing the study. Must be 18+, work part- or full-time, be a non-student, and have one child between the ages of 3-5. For more info, contact Lauren Kennedy (kennedy0@vt.edu) or call/text (540)8085358

Memory & Emotion in Middle Childhood
The C.A.P. Lab in the Psychology Department at Virginia Tech is conducting a new study focused on the development of memory and emotion in middle childhood and looking for children 6-7 or 9-10 years of age. During the lab visit, we will be playing games with the children. Mothers and children will also play games together and mothers will complete a set of questionnaires. The visit should last about two hours. Mothers will receive a $50 gift card and children will receive a $10 gift card, as well as a small toy, for participation. Contact Leslie Patton by phone (research lab—231-2320) or by e-mail (lapatton@vt.edu) for details

Situation Interpretation in Mothers and Children
The study will explore how mothers and children interpret social situations in their day-to-day lives. We are looking for mothers whose children are between the ages of 7 and 12 years, and we are primarily interested in mothers who experience clinical levels of anxiety. We believe this project will help us better understand the relationship between these interpretations and interactions between mothers and children in these situations. Participation involves two assessment sessions (2-2.5 hours each) at the Virginia Tech Child Study Center and participants will be compensated $50 for their time. All information will be kept confidential. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about this study please contact the project coordinator, Kristin Austin, M.S., at 231-8276 or via email at momanxiety@vt.edu.

Do you ever wonder about how young children learn self-control?  The C.A.P. Lab in the Psychology Department at Virginia Tech is conducting a new study focusing on children’s developing ability to control their actions during games like Simon Says.  During this visit, we will play some fun word and movement games.  In addition to these games, we are interested in collecting information about the physiological components of these abilities.  The visit should last one to two hours.  We are looking for 4- to 4.5-year-old children.  If you are interested in this study, please contact Amanda Watson by phone (research lab—231-2320) or by e-mail (watsonaj@vt.edu).