Early Childhood Emotional Development Project
Welcome to the Early Childhood Emotional Development Project web page. The Early Childhood Emotional Development Project was designed to examine the development of children's early nonverbal communication skills, and to explore how these early developing skills are related to later social, emotional, and cognitive development. This project is being conducted by me, Dr. Michael Morales, with the help of my research assistants who are graduate and undergraduate students currently attending Plattsburgh State University.
Principal Investigator's Educational Background
I received my Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. I also received additional training in a 3-year postdoctoral position at the University of Miami, Florida. I came to Plattsburgh State University in the fall of 1999 to teach the developmental psychology courses in the undergraduate psychology program.
Who is Participating in the Study?
Currently, there are about 70 families participating in our study. These families come from Plattsburgh and the surrounding communities, with some participants traveling from as far away as Lake Placid to be a part of the study. I think that these individuals would agree that participating in our study allows parents to be a part of their child’s development in a very special way. The entire lab experience is non-invasive, and we provide parents and children with an atmosphere that is low-key and relaxed. Our babies find it stimulating and fun (we think!) and parents find the experience both informative and enjoyable. We also provide child care for parents who have other children who need to be cared for during the lab visit.
Who is Eligible to Participate?
We are looking for full-term, healthy infants and their parents to participate in our study, although a number of pre-term infants have been participating as well. At this point in the study, we are simply asking that mothers and their babies participate in the laboratory portion of the visits, but we do have some fathers involved in our study.
Once Enrolled in the Study, What are you Asked to Do?
Should you decide to participate, we would ask you to visit our laboratory playroom located in Beaumont Hall (pictured below) at the Plattsburgh Campus.
On the campus map, we are building number 31 which is located at the corner of Draper and Broad Street in Plattsburgh.
The first time you would visit our laboratory playroom, would be when your child is 6-months-old. The 6-month visit would then be followed by three subsequent visits, one when your child is12- to 13-months-old, one when your child is 18- to 19-months-old, and one when your child is 24-months-old. We videotape each of these visits, and each visit lasts about 45 minutes. During each of your visits, we ask that you play with your child and that you fill out questionnaires that ask about your child's development and behavior. Our hours are very flexible. We do mornings, evenings, and weekends if necessary.
Contact Information
If our project sounds interesting to you, and you would like to schedule an appointment or obtain more information, please call me at (518) 564-3389 any weekday between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. If you would like additional information about my background, please view my resume. I also have information posted about the research I have conducted to date. I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Thank you for taking the time to read about our project!
Below please see pictures of our waiting room and laboratory playroom.
Waiting room located in Beaumont Hall.
Waiting room play area for participating children and their siblings.
Laboratory play room.
View of laboratory playroom from observation room located behind the mirror.