The Carter Experiment

When Carter was born, I was approached by a local university about enrolling Carter in various studies on infant development. As someone who appreciates education and research endeavors, I decided to give it a try. The first one was a study on brain activity in relation to various visual stimuli. The premise of the study was that when an infant sees something new, he uses a different part of the brain than when he sees something that is not new to him. The set up involved viewing a large screen that showed various animated and inanimate objects while remaining seated in my lap. The room was darkened so that Carter's attention would remain on the screen. Carter was fitted with an EEG cap that allowed the researchers to monitor the areas of the brain that were stimulated based on what Carter saw. The cap consisted of tiny suction cups that had been soaked in water and baby shampoo. He also wore a barber's drape to discourage him from grabbing at the cap. Carter was a little unnerved by all the attention from the grad students, but they were very sweet to him. The researchers were thrilled with how cooperative Carter was and felt that they got a lot of information from his participation. They mentioned that most babies wouldn't even let them get the cap in place. Considering we never watch tv during his playtime, Carter kept his attention on the screen as long as he could (about six minutes). Once he started getting fidgety, the students concluded the session and took off the cap. The following picture was taken right before they removed the cap.