admin – Babylab

Replication research: can infants socially evaluate others?

Would you like to join our fun experiment with your baby to investigate social evaluation in infants?

Evaluating others is a crucial aspect of adult life, but do infants have the same ability to socially evaluate? As part of the ManyBabies 4 project, we are investigating whether infants between 5.5 and 10.5 months prefer prosocial over antisocial characters. To study this, we let infants watch a fun videotaped puppet show involving a helper and a hinderer. To understand how they evaluate the characters, we then measure which of the characters they prefer by observing which character they reach for. The study takes approximately 15-30 minutes. Feel free to contact us for further information and sign up!

Replication research: can infants mentalise?

At the very core of humanity lies the ability to mentalise – to comprehend that other people have their own thoughts and feelings, intentions and knowledge. But when exactly does this capacity develop in us? We are one of more than 20 labs around the world exploring this fundamental question in developmental psychology as part of the ManyBabies 2 (MB2) collaborative project. In this study, we let both infants aged 18 to 27 months and adults watch short animated films. Meanwhile, we measure their looking behavior. This way, we gain insight into their understanding of what others know. The study takes approximately 15 minutes.

If you are fascinated by the complexity of the human mind and want to be part of a groundbreaking research, get in touch for more information and sign-ups!

Replication research: how do babies learn language?

Would you like to help us investigate how babies learn language? We’re running two fun experiments your babies will enjoy! Did you know that even before babies speak their first words, they are working hard to also learn the grammatical rules of their language(s)? In this study, we let 7 month old babies listen to a novel language. After a brief listening phase, we measure their looking behaviour. In this way we can understand how well they learned the rules in the language. We also investigate whether multilingual babies are better at learning these rules. The study takes approximately 15 minutes, and babies with every language background can participate. Get in touch with us for more information and sign ups!

Martina Zaharieva

Infant research often deals with fundamental questions about the origins of human cognition, and observational methods for studying non-verbal behavior are at the heart of the field. Over the first year of life, infants become increasingly more purposeful in exploring their visual world through eye movements and engaging with others by expressing emotions. In my PhD projects, I design, apply, and assess infant-friendly measurement methods to study looking behavior and affective facial expressions.

Maartje Raijmakers

How do infants view the world and how does this affect the new insights they gain? These are important questions in my research on the development of learning processes and knowledge from infants to adults. I am also interested in the role of emotions. (Professor of Cognitive Development, University of Amsterdam).

Ingmar Visser

My research focuses on learning in children and infants: what do they look at in the world and what do they learn from that? Which information do they use to learn new concepts and words? What draws their attention and what doesn’t? I am associate professor of developmental psychology at the University of Amsterdam, and together with colleagues and students we try to answer these questions. Also as a father of two I am interested in children, their development and how to best support them.

The Baby Lab participates in replication research

The Amsterdam Babylab believes in reliable science and actively participates in replication research. Among other things we participate in NWO funded research into the building blocks of cognition: https://www.nwo.nl/actueel/nieuws/2018/12/replicatiestudies-tweede-ronde-weer-belangrijk-onderzoek-opnieuw-doen.html

GEAR: Growing Emotion and Attention Regulation

Join us for a fun adventure at UvA’s Baby Lab and contribute to science! Young infants learn very quickly to steer their attention by looking at things they enjoy, or find odd or exciting and the way they explore their visual world can tell us a lot about how they learn to interact with it purposefully. In the GEAR project, we use eye-tracking and video recordings to study how infants learn to regulate their emotion and attention during brief infant-friendly tasks. We also ask you to fill out an online questionnaire about some skills and behaviors you have recently seen your infant do. Get in touch with us for more information and sign ups! For more information, you can also read our infromation brochure:

Information-Brochure_GEAR-Longitudinal