Phase 1 Participation

TheyCanTalk Research Phase 1: Initial Data Collection

In Phase 1, we begin the process of collecting basic information about learners and their learning context in conjunction with regular logging of instances of dog word button use. The data we're collecting here will let us understand how age, breed, sex, teaching technique, teaching speed, and vocabulary choice affect button learning.

In this stage, regular logging of button use is our primary method of studying learner progress. As such, if you're participating in this research, we'll be relying entirely on you to submit updates describing when, and in what context, your learner pressed buttons. 

More specifically, we're looking to collect 6 months or more of data from each participant to better assess both their learning abilities and how their use of the buttons might change over time once their vocabulary increases.

Our primary data gathering tools are the button-press logging app (still in beta) and progress reports (every two weeks).

Your data submissions through these tools will provide key information toward specifying which linguistic and communicative phenomena to focus on in the development and analysis of the data that will be collected for Phase 2 (video recordings) and Phase 3 (experiments) from those we invite to participate in those phases.

Ultimately, we're interested in how your learner(s) learn, how they communicate, and what their behavior tells us about their cognitive abilities and emotional life.

All of the information you provide will help us get one step closer to a richer and more meaningful understanding of animals’ minds, and all of your responses will be sent to you for your own records.

We will also be providing ways for you to use this data to be able to see your learner's progress over time, as well as how your learner compares to others. This is information that can provide you with valuable insights on how to improve or accelerate your learner's progress.

Thank you for participating!

Step 1: Complete Comprehensive Intake Survey

To participate, the first step is to fill out a comprehensive intake questionnaire for each learner you'd like to enroll. 

This intake questionnaire helps us learn about:

• You, your background, and your expectations

• Your learner's temperament, physical characteristics, household environment, and routines

• Your learner's degree of familiarity with a range of words and concepts (prior to starting button-training) 

After completing this questionnaire, we'll generate a unique participant ID for your learner and invite you to join and participate in the research and discussion occurring on our collaborative science forum. 

Step 2: Prep your learner's vocabulary and soundboard

Once we've processed your completed intake questionnaire, we'll send you an invitation to join our How.TheyCanTalk.org collaborative science forum. 

This invitation will come from a circle.io domain (the platform our forum is hosted on) and contain your learner's unique participant ID, which we'll use to track your learner's growth and progress across tools throughout the study.

Familiarize yourself with How.TheyCanTalk.org:

• Complete your bio, and set a photo of you and your learner as your avatar 

• Update your username to include both your name and your learner's name

• Introduce yourself to the community 👋

• Read the Research Summary to get a better idea of what this project is all about

• Check the Location 🌍  space to find other teachers and learners near you!

Determine which word(s) you want to add first, using our Getting Started guides, suggested order of introduction, and the Vocabulary Chart from the Hunger for Words website.

You'll also need to acquire buttons, which we do not provide for this study, but you're also not required to use specific buttons to participate. Most learners are using either FluentPet buttons & HexTiles or Learning Resources buttons, but any voice buttons will do!

If you've already done everything here, move on to Step 3.

Step 3: Sign app for early access to our logging app

You can sign up to join the iOS and/or Android beta test here: https://flnt.pt/app

Some tips for getting started with the FluentPet beta app: 

• Once you've installed the app, you'll want to log in using your the address associated with your TheyCanTalk Research enrollment, which will allow us to sync your data across research tools.

• If the email address associated with your TheyCanTalk Research enrollment is Gmail or other Google-hosted address, you can use the "Continue with Google" option. Otherwise you'll need to create a new app login under that email, at least until we implement single sign-on (hopefully soon!)

• You can connect with other beta testers for real-time chat and support in the #app-feedback channel on our Discord server: https://flnt.pt/TheyCanTalk-Discord

Step 4: Monitor changes, activity and progress

In addition to the beta app, there are a couple other ways to track and even visualize your learner's activity and progress, including journaling on How.TheyCanTalk.org, and using tools like Google Forms, Google Data Studio, and Google Sheets.

Note: You are NOT required to use any of these methods to track your progress. These are simply a set of suggested tools, examples and templates available to you in case you'd like to use them to track your learner's progress.

Journaling

Some participants, like Anna, have been open journaling on How.TheyCanTalk.org, which is a great way for the community to learn from and with each other.

Google Tools

We've had several participants use Google tools (mainly Forms, Sheets and Data Studio) to track and visualize their learners' progress. Lindsay M., research participant and forum moderator, even created this set of templates and tutorial videos to share with the community: 

Creating a Tracking Form in Google

• Template

• Tutorial

Connecting the Google Form to Google Sheets

• Template

• Tutorial

Creating the Dashboard

• Template

• Tutorial

Easy Google Forms Update Script

• Tutorial

• Website

You can also log activity directly into a Google Sheet/Excel file or Google/Word Doc. 

For a full list of things to keep track of, see Step 5 below.

Step 5: Begin submitting your learner's data!

Two weeks after you've submitted your annotated soundboard, you will receive a link to progress report, where you can share updates with us and we'll ask a list of questions about:

• Buttons you’ve added or removed since completing the button annotation (and then every 2 weeks after that)

• Any other changes to your soundboard (e.g. transitioning from one type of button to another, consolidating buttons into a single place, modified button appearances or voice recordings)

• Top 3 words and phrases you’ve modeled most since submitting your annotated soundboard

• Your learner's 3 most used buttons

• Your learner's 2 new favorite buttons

• Any interesting (or most frequently expressed) multi-button presses

• Changes in the number of waking hours you spent with your learner, or that your learner(s) had access to their buttons

• Changes to the way your learner is using his/her buttons (e.g. to experiment, narrate, request, inform, speak for others, etc.)

• Whether your learner has a preference for pressing buttons with nose vs. paw, and/or left paw vs. right paw (similar to handedness in humans)

You will continue to receive these progress reports every two weeks for six months or more so that we can gather data about your learner's progress and learning/communication patterns.