About ManyBabies4
In this ongoing project, we are investigating a fundamental aspect of human nature: evaluating others’ actions as praiseworthy or blameworthy. We do so in a closely coordinated, multi-laboratory, standardized study aimed at replicating Hamlin, Wynn, & Bloom, 2007, infants preference for agents (shapes with eyes) who help versus hinder others. Using a video-taped version of the original puppet show (similar to Hamlin, 2015), labs from around the world will collect data from infants between the ages of 5.5 and 10.5 months.
You can learn more about the project by reading our preprint or watching this presentation recently given at the International Congress of Infant Studies conference by Kelsey Lucca and Arthur Capelier-Mourguy.
We are currently looking for new contributors to MB4 -- Your lab can sign up to collect data here! All contributing labs will receive co-authorship on the MB4 manuscript which will be published in Developmental Science.
You can learn more about our spin-off project focusing on individual differences in infants' social evaluations across cultures by reading our pre-registration on OSF.
Stay up to date on the latest information regarding ManyBabies4 by subscribing to our Listserv.
ManyBabies4 is part of the ManyBabies Project, a series of multi-lab replications of influential experiments in developmental psychology. Check out the official ManyBabies website to learn more about other past and ongoing projects!
ManyBabies4 Current Collaborators:
Please visit the ManyBabies4 collaborator dashboard* to meet all of our amazing contributors!
As of December 2021, the MB4 project has 88 contributors (from 77 labs) from 27 countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, England, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Uganda, Scotland, United States, and Wales.
*Dashboard developed & maintained by Rodrigo Dal Ben. The dashboard is currently under construction!
Key Project Contacts:
Dr. Kelsey Lucca
Arizona State University
Dr. Kelsey Lucca is an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University in the Psychology Department. She is the principal investigator of The Emerging Minds Lab which investigates cognitive development, communication, social cognition, and curiosity in infants and young children. Dr. Lucca is the lead researcher for the ManyBabies4 project, please contact her with project questions at klucca@asu.edu.
Dr. Jessica Sommerville
University of Toronto
Dr. Sommerville is a developmental psychologist whose work focuses on the origins of social, cognitive and moral development in infancy and early childhood. She is particularly interested in factors that support developmental changes in children’s learning through and about the social world. Dr. Sommerville is a Full Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Toronto (St. George campus), and the principal investigator for the Toronto Early Cognition Lab.
Francis L. Yuen
University of British Columbia
Francis L. Yuen is a PhD student supervised by Dr. J. Kiley Hamlin at the Centre for Infant Cognition at the University of British Columbia. If you have questions regarding the website and/or data submission, please contact him at francis.yuen@psych.ubc.ca.
Dr. J. Kiley Hamlin
University of British Columbia
Dr. J. Kiley Hamlin is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia in the Psychology Department. The ManyBabies4 project is largely a multi-lab replication of her research on infants' preference for helpers over hinderers, specifically the replication using video stimuli instead of a live puppet show (original paper: Hamlin, Wynn, & Bloom, 2007; video show replication: Hamlin, 2015). Dr. Hamlin is currently the principal investigator at the Centre for Infant Cognition, which investigates the social and moral development of infants.
MB4 Updates
Publications
2021
The ManyBabies4 paper received an in-principle acceptance to Developmental Science. We are one step closer to beginning the project!
Presentations
2020
ManyBabies 4: A Large-Scale, Multi-Lab, Coordinated Replication Study of Infants’ Social Evaluations. Talk presented at the International Congress of Infant Studies Meeting. Glasgow, Scotland presented virtually due to COVID-19. View it here.
2019
Hamlin, J. K., Lucca, K., & Sommerville, J. A. (2019). ManyBabies 4: A large-scale, multi-lab, coordinated replication study of infants’ social evaluations. Talk presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Meeting. Baltimore, MD.
2018
Hamlin, J. K., Lucca, K., & Sommerville, J. A. (2018). ManyBabies 4 (socio-moral evaluation) training workshop. Workshop presented at the 2018 International Congress of Infant Studies Meeting. Philadelphia, PA.
Media
2020
Project lead, Kiley Hamlin, discusses infants' social evaluations on the Netflix Series Babies (Part 2, Episode 4)
Spin-off project
2022
The spin-off project aims to examine individual differences in infants' social evaluations across cultures by having two add-on tasks (a joint book reading task and surveys). The project has been pre-registered on OSF.
