About

The Developing Minds Volunteer List is a collaborative effort among various research laboratories at Virginia Tech, which focuses on investigating the impact of development on aspects such as vision, decision-making, memory, emotion, and physical and psychological health. Our goal is to understand how we can promote the well-being of children's minds and bodies throughout their lives. A list of coordinating professors at Virginia Tech is available here. We typically recruit participants from the community through newspaper and website advertisements, flyers in community centers, and notices in various newsletters. Additionally, we maintain a list of individuals who have previously expressed interest in participating in studies on emotion, cognition, and child development. Access to this list is granted exclusively to the researchers listed above and their staff, facilitating connections between researchers and interested participants. Numerous research projects are being conducted at the Department of Psychology and affiliated departments at Virginia Tech, aiming to explore the psychological and environmental factors that influence the development of cognition and emotion, and to determine how to maintain healthy minds as children grow.

What information will we collect?

Each study varies, but generally speaking, our studies typically involve completing various cognitive tasks and answering questionnaires; a few of them also use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), FNIRS, EEG/ERP to record brain activity while your child or you complete cognitive tasks. Some studies pay volunteers a stipend for their time; others involve unpaid volunteers. Some of the studies only involve a certain range of participants (e.g., adolescents or college student), but many of the studies also include most of the ages to compare cognitive processes across different ages.

How do you get involved?

You can join our Developing Minds Volunteer List. Please send me an email request to andlab [at] vt [dot] edu to be contacted by researchers about studies for which you may be eligible. If contacted, you would have the opportunity to ask questions and decide whether you want to participate. The researchers might also ask you questions to find out if you are eligible for their study. We would maintain a record of the preferences you state concerning what type of studies you would like to be contacted about and how often you would like to participate in studies. We would also keep a record of when you were contacted and when you participated in a study so that we do not contact you about studies more often than you would like. No information about your performance in any study would be included in this list, and your contact information will be treated confidentially. We will not distribute your information to anyone not affiliated with the VT Developing Minds research projects. Completion of the contact information indicates you are interested in being contacted about future studies, but does not obligate you to participate in any study.

What if I want to be removed from the list?

You may remove your name at any point from the list by contacting andlab [at] vt [dot] edu. No information about your performance in any study would be included in this list and your contact information will be treated confidentially.