Children's causal reasoning about sound

Ages: (In preparation for a new version)!

Duration: 15 minutes

In this study, we are interested in how children think about sounds. When kids hear music, or other sounds, do they think about what had to happen to cause those sounds? Here we're asking if this kind of causal reasoning leads kids to think that certain musical sounds are caused by animate people or characters. This study will help us understand why instrumental music makes us think about movement, people, and emotions, even though it's just sound. Maybe one reason is that we're able to think about what had to happen in the world to cause those sounds. And, maybe kids and even babies can think this way too! That could be one reason why music is so interesting and social for kids and babies.

We are currently taking a break for this study to prepare our new version. If you are interested in this study, please send an email with the title of our study and your child's age in years. We will keep you updated! : )