A Framework for Online Experimenter-Moderated Looking-Time Studies Assessing Infants' Linguistic Knowledge.

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Online data collection in infant research presents unique timing and recruitment challenges.
• Existing in-lab studies often lack demographic diversity due to limited geographic reach.
• Looking-time measures require precise temporal synchronization, potentially disrupted in online settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility and validity of online looking-time paradigms for infant research.
• To assess the impact of online data collection on data precision and participant recruitment.
• To develop best practices for remote infant eye-gaze studies to improve sample diversity.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: Experimenter-moderated online looking-while-listening paradigm via Zoom with 21 infants (23-26 months).
• Study 1: Assessed data accuracy against in-lab results and robustness to varying internet speeds.
• Study 2: Used microtargeted Facebook advertisements to recruit diverse participants from varied socioeconomic backgrounds.

Main Results:

• Online data collection approximated in-lab results for familiar word recognition with minimal timing corrections.
• Online procedures were robust across a range of internet speeds, expanding participant accessibility.
• Targeted online recruitment successfully reached more diverse demographic and socioeconomic groups than in-person methods.

Conclusions:

• Moderated online data collection is a viable method for infant eye-gaze research, maintaining data quality.
• Online methods offer significant potential to diversify participant samples, crucial for generalizable research.
• The study provides a framework for implementing effective remote infant eye-gaze data collection and recruitment strategies.