It's For the Greater Good

Bitty participated in a study called the Georgetown Early Learning Project this week.  A graduate research assistant came to our house armed with a video camera, two puppets, a barnyard play set, and various paperwork.  First, the researcher showed a pink bunny puppet to Bitty, which she of course loved because Bitty is obsessed with puppets.  The bunny had a pink mitten on one hand which the researcher took on and off a few times to show Bitty that it could be removed.  Then, we were both videotaped playing together with a barnyard play set for a few minutes.  In the final part of the visit, the research assistant took out a grey bunny wearing a mitten.  The purpose was to see if Bitty would generalize what she had seen from the pink bunny to this new grey bunny, and try and remove the mitten.  Initially, she went for the mitten, until she caught a glimpse of the person behind the puppet, and then spent the remainder of the time trying to get that grey bunny out of the way so she could see the researcher.  It was interesting to see her interactions with the puppets and the new person, and I wasn't surprised by her reaction since she always prefers studying people and eliciting their attention to toys.  Although, I'm not sure if her reaction was helpful to the study!

This project is in its 10th year, and children aged six months to two and a half years can participate!  Here is the link.