Research Participants

On behalf of myself and my graduate students, I would like to thank the children, parents, teachers, and school administrators who have participated in our studies. We greatly appreciate your time and effort.

Online Studies

Study 1: Young Adolescents’ and Parents’ Attitudes and Perspective Taking

This study investigates young adolescents’ and parents’ attitudes about potential parent-adolescent relationship issues. Adolescents in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade and their parent or guardian each complete a 10-15 minute anonymous online survey. The survey describes twelve scenarios involving ordinary events (i.e., room cleanliness, chores, mobile phone use, and appearance). Each scenario is followed by two questions. Answers will not be identifiable, and individuals’ responses will not be reported in any report of this research. Instead, responses from all participants in the study will be aggregated to determine general patterns of response for the whole group. Parents must complete their survey before adolescents can participate. 

Access Study 1 Survey

Study 2: Young Children's Monitoring of Learning Episodes

The purpose of this project is to investigate young children’s ability to monitor learning experiences. This study investigates young children’s ability to monitor the origins of their own knowledge. We will investigate 4- and 5-year-olds’ awareness of when they learned a new fact. Children ages 4- and 5-years of age will be taught facts about animals, plants, rocks, and materials, and then they will be asked questions about how long they have known these facts. Participation is expected to take about 10 minutes per child. Answers will not be identifiable, and individuals’ responses will not be reported in any report of this research. Instead, responses from all participants in the study will be aggregated to determine general patterns of response for the whole group.

Access Study 2 Survey

Study 3: Reasoning about evidence

This study investigates the development of scientific reasoning among kindergarten and early elementary school students. Children will be shown animated pictures that present different patterns of evidence about the characteristics of animals and inanimate objects. Children will be asked to reason about animals and objects, and to rate their certainty about their conclusions. Participation involves one 15-minute Zoom meeting scheduled at your convenience. We are interested in the performance of children as an age group; therefore, there will be no data linking data forms to consent forms and performance of individual children will remain confidential. Only the overall performance of each age group will be described in any presentation resulting from this research. Please select the link below to sign up for the study.

Access Study 3 Survey

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I find out the results of a study conducted at my school?

Summaries of completed and published research reports are available.  Please request a copy of the article that reports work done at your school by email. Some results also are reported on the Presentations page.

Is my child's performance confidential?

Yes.  We record each child's age and gender. Then each child is assigned a number, and children's names are not retained. We do not report results for individual children. Only averages for each age group are reported.

Do the results indicate my child's level of intelligence or academic ability?

No. Our studies assess age differences in the development of particular concepts or reasoning abilities but do not assess children's general intellectual ability.

What happens if my child does not wish to participate?

Children are free to decline to participate in research. For in-person research, researchers will approach children whose parents have given written consent and ask children if they would like to participate. If a child says "no", then the child will not participate.  Likewise, if a child seems uneasy or asks to stop participation, we will cease testing.

Where and when will the research be conducted?

For in-person research, the time and place for conducting research will be determined by teachers and school administrators. Typically, research is conducted in a quiet corner of the classroom, in a library, office, or hallway at a time that is least disruptive to the classroom.

How are the results of the research used?

We will publish the results in academic journals and present them at conferences. Thus, the results will become part of the base of information that psychologists may draw from when trying to understand children's development. In addition to informing psychological theories and research, these results also may be useful for educators and others working with children.

If I have concerns about research, who can I contact?

Questions about research projects can be addressed to me either by phone, 815-753-7079 or email, pillow@niu.edu. In addition, concerns may be raised with NIU's Office of Research Compliance, 815-753-8588.

Bradford H. Pillow

Phone: 815-753-7079

Inquiries about the graduate Developmental Psychology Program are welcome.

To request additional information about my research or copies of publications, please contact me at pillow@niu.edu.

For information about the admission process, please see the Psychology Department homepage.