”Can we just get this over with?”

I think tests are often designed expecting the best possible circumstances. However, frequently many things can interfere when conducting the test. Indeed, I had the opportunity to witness this first hand while volunteering as a research assistant in a psychological research laboratory a couple years ago. The participants we were testing were not what one would consider easy going; they were easily distracted, fussy, emotionally reactive, displayed dwarfism, immaturity and knowledge deficits. Half the time we could not go through the whole testing procedure… Indeed, these participants were infants! However, they were not what made the process the most stressful, rather it was their parents. When conducting research, many ethical considerations are required such as confidentiality and it is important to get the informed consent of the participants. In the case of infants the parents must give consent. You must explain the purpose of the test, the procedures involved as well as any possible risks. You must assure the protection of the participants by not putting them through something that causes more distress than everyday life and they may choose to withdraw at any moment that they do not feel comfortable. It was this part, the “explaining the conditions”, which was the least pleasant because parents are often anxious about having their child go through a test and usually didn't seem to understand everything completely. I don’t know if you've ever tried convincing a parent to let their baby into a strange room that produces weird noises but it’s not as easy as it seems and you better have a good explanation behind your demands! And all this after they got lost in the university’s biology building for long enough for the grad student to send me in as the “search party” with a walkie-talkie looking for the lost baby-parent duo. Patience doesn't just run low in infants apparently…

All this too say, one must walk into a testing situation expecting the worse and hoping for the best while being accommodating to the circumstances (as much as the particular test allows) in order to get something out of the experience for all.

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