Descriptions for Summer Mentor Program

Nancy Wyss

Descriptions for Summer Mentor Program

Explanation of Research:

Children born preterm are at an increased risk (2-3 times greater) for later attentional problems (e.g., ADHD). There are many different components of attention, and this project aims to examine which aspects of attention are different in children born full-term and children born preterm. Participants are 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds. Half of the participants are children who were born preterm, and the other half are children born full-term. Families come to Loyola for a one-time appointment that lasts approximately 1 hour. Children are given different types of toys and games, and we examine how they pay attention in different circumstances. For example, sometimes they have just one toy, sometimes they have a lot of toys, and sometimes a television comes on as a distraction. The study will increase knowledge regarding the development of attention in preterm toddlers and preschoolers.

Explanation of Undergraduate Work

Throughout the summer, I expect the undergraduate student to be involved in and learn about all of the different aspects involved in research with children. In the beginning, the student will assist in participant recruitment. This will involve preparing mail-outs, making phone calls, and scheduling appointments. In addition, the student will come to the hospitals and see how children and families are recruited in that setting. The undergraduate student will also be trained to run the experiment on his/her own. This will involve learning all of the procedures and learning how to give informed consent. Training will also include learning and becoming reliable on different methods of coding. Finally, the student will be trained in data entry and be able to properly enter the demographic and attention information into the data file. By participating in all of these tasks, the undergraduate will be exposed to the many different components of research.