Ashley Blake is a PhD Researcher at the University of Birmingham where her research investigates cognitive predictors of individual differences in children’s language acquisition. This is part of a large research project led by Professor Ewa Dąbrowska (University of Birmingham and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg). Ashley’s research investigates language from the perspective of cognitive skill learning and the usage-based model of language acquisition, to investigate how the speed of automatization predicts differences in children’s linguistic ability. Ashley is particularly interested in differences between typically developing children and children with developmental language disorder. In this interview, which we did in February 2021, we chat about her experiences conducting remote data collection during the pandemic.
Can you tell me a bit more about the project you’re currently working on?
I’m part of a large project run by Professor Ewa Dąbrowska, who is based at the Friedrich Alexander University in Erlangen, Germany. My project is looking into individual differences in children’s language development, comparing typically developing children and children with developmental language disorder. We are investigating how the speed of automatization links into differences in their language development, and the way we’re doing that is by using a puzzle called the Tower of Hanoi. With the puzzle, we are investigating the psychological principles of cognitive skill learning, as well as looking at how differences in the way that children can automatize a skill links to differences in their language development, from a usage-based perspective. In the data collection task, children repeat the puzzle 30 times, and during the last 5 trials we introduce a secondary task, where they do the puzzle with a distraction, so that we can see how well they can automatize the skill, and how well they can manage when they’ve got a distracting task as well. I’m also using standardized language measures and cognitive tests. When I finish my data collection, I’m hoping to have 100 children altogether, then we’ll be able to see how cognitive skill learning predicts differences in their linguistic ability. I was delayed for quite a while because of COVID. I was all excited to go into schools, but of course that was during the first lockdown and children’s summer holidays. In September last year, I visited children in two schools, but after that I really struggled to recruit new schools due to the pandemic. So, we went back to the drawing board again and thought ‘we’re just going to have to try on Zoom’. And it really works out! I post the puzzle to children, and I have a digital visualizer which I use to project to standardize language measures. It works really well. The kids respond well on Zoom, and the parents are with them to encourage them if they get a bit jumpy.
What is the entire process like, from finding the participants to getting the data?
Initially, towards the end of last year, I mailed schools and asked them to share with their parents and carers. During the second lockdown, I felt I couldn’t do this again because schools were under a lot of pressure. So, I shared my study on Twitter and Facebook, I had a lot of interest through Facebook, which I didn’t expect. I joined groups such as ‘Family lockdown tips and ideas’, and I also joined some developmental language disorder groups. Some organizations that are trying to raise awareness for developmental language disorder have also been amazing in sharing. And, then, simply word of mouth; some parents liked the study and they shared it. When parents express interest in the study, I send them an information sheet with detailed information about the tasks, and I send them a link to do a background questionnaire and a consent form, this is all done online. Thereafter I post them a puzzle. So, the children all get a physical puzzle. After they’ve done the Tower of Hanoi puzzle (in one session), we do two more sessions where I do a variety of different language and cognitive tasks. I look at vocabulary, grammar, recalling sentences, a memory task which comprises tennis balls in a tube and they have to tell me the reverse order, things like that. And then they do a statistical regularity task, which we’ve developed on Gorilla. I send them a link to that task, and they either do it on Zoom, if they want me to stay, or, if they’re very confident, they just do it on their own via the link, and I get the results. It’s a very managed project in that I’m with them all the way and I record the results on the sheets in front of me. But, it is also more intensive and time-consuming.
How different was the remote data collection in terms of how much time it takes compared to the way you would have done it if it hadn’t been for the pandemic?
For me it’s the same, because I still would have been doing a very intensive, in-person study. In some ways, I’ve probably saved time. I would always prefer to do it in person, but if you think about the travelling, I would’ve had to have travelled to a lot of schools. Ideally, how I had planned it was that I would get quite a lot of children from one school and just go and spend the day or maybe several days there. But this way, I’ve got participants from lots of different areas. And the other plus is that I can open myself up to the whole of England, whereas before it would have been a lot of travelling. So, in some ways there is a bonus to it. I’m just glad to have got it going, because I was so worried that I wasn’t going to be able to get off the ground, and the fact that we can do it via Zoom is fantastic.
What are some other positive aspects of this experience so far?
Definitely that parents can be involved. I tell the parents they’re welcome to attend the call. I would say a good 98% all sit with their child. And I think that’s lovely, as they see what they’re doing, they’re often really proud. The other lovely thing is that children are also so proud when they do the puzzle, it is difficult to solve in the beginning. And then parents tell me that they’ve Zoomed grandparents and they’ve all done it and there’s been Tower of Hanoi challenges in the whole family. So, that’s lovely, isn’t it? I am now starting with the group with developmental language disorder, and they can be a very heterogeneous group anyway, so their needs are very, very different, and it will be interesting to see when I have recruited enough children to get a good measure of it. So far, I’ve only tested about three or four, and they’ve all been quite different to each other. And also, they often struggle with attention and that might be quite tricky on Zoom. You’re very reliant on their parents to be onboard with the study to keep them going.
Have you thought about any differences in the nature of the data that you collect via Zoom versus face-to-face?
The only thing would be whether children were getting help with the answers. But I can get a really good feel of that myself anyway, and parents don’t usually help. I’d say that would be the difference, but I don’t have worries about that. With some children, they’ve needed a lot of coaxing to stay on the task, and I definitely noticed that they’re getting tired. I started this in December and by the end of January, I could see the differences, some children are really tired. And I’ve had the odd occasion where a child has been upset about a task and we’ve maybe stopped the call and I’ve gone back on to it later. Or, some children just need a bit of extra encouragement and I post them extra stickers or, you know, they just need a bit of an extra boost to get to the finish.
What would be your advice for people who are in a similar situation, people who are considering collecting data online?
My view is that even if things relax a bit with COVID, I don’t think they’re going to relax enough for us to collect data in-person for a while, certainly with children. So, I would take the plunge and adapt your tasks as much as you can. I definitely think parents are quite willing to take part. Also, I think you’ve got to really try lots of things and keep quite positive about it. In the beginning I was trying lots of things, but I was getting no bites. I remember being excited about six participants, really celebrating the fact that I had six. And then, just suddenly, I had a lot of interest. I just think you’ve got to try lots of different avenues.
What has been the most surprising lesson?
Children actually do really well on Zoom. I thought it would be really hard to keep them on task. But I think because each of my tasks changes quite quickly, and the fact that I split it over three Zoom sessions maybe helps. That’s been surprising. I’ve also been surprised at how tiring Zoom is. I know everybody says this, but I suppose it is even more tiring in this case, because when you’re doing a task with a child on Zoom, you don’t even avert your eyes. You give it 100%. Sometimes I’ve done as many as nine Zoom sessions a day, often back to back, so there’s just enough time to quickly grab a drink of water and then come back again. That’s quite intense. Because you’re also chivvying them along and I guess you got the parents’ expectations as well, you just want them to be happy with the study and you want them to carry on.
Where do you think the trends will go in terms of software and data collection trends in linguistics or psycholinguistics?
I think, certainly, we will continue to use Gorilla, and I think they’ve had a huge amount of people move over to their platform. I think that’s going to carry on. When I first started on my PhD, initially, we were planning to collect data in-person, but now that’s all online. Now, the way we look at our experimental tasks is in terms of how we can develop them online. So, that is something we all will embrace hopefully. We’ll have to, won’t we? If we want to stay doing what we’re doing.
The interesting question would be what would happen if these restrictions are lifted or eased and we can meet participants in-person. What will be the incentive to go back to the old infrastructure or to use the new one?
I think it depends on the study. So, certainly, like I mentioned, my group with developmental language disorder, I’d far rather do that in-person. I’ll have to see when I’ve tested more children with DLD. But yeah, you’re right, what will be the incentive? I guess interpersonal contact is always great, isn’t it? I think there’s going to be a limit as to how long people are going to want to do things on screen, especially working with children. I think at the moment, the weather is not great and everyone’s in lockdown, so yeah, we’ll do a study, but when the weather’s nice and maybe restrictions are slightly lifted, maybe we’re not going to want to be in front of a screen, we’ll be burnt out. I don’t know. I hope we’ll do a bit of both actually. That’s what I really do hope. I think there’s certain positives of lockdown and online, like certainly conferences and opening up a lot more accessibility for everybody. But there will be things that we miss a lot.