The broader goals of ManyBabies come together through collaborative projects. They can be Main Projects, Spin-off Projects, or Secondary Analyses.
Main Projects
Address a question about infant development of key theoretical or methodological interest; main empirical projects are numbered sequentially (e.g., MB1, MB2)
Spin-off Projects
Build on the methods or data from the main projects, e.g., extending the study to a different population of infants (e.g., bilinguals; MB1B) or follow-up data collection (e.g., longitudinal correlation with CDIs; MB1L); identified with a letter following the main project abbreviation
Secondary Analyses
Conducted on publicly-available ManyBabies data; in some cases, may include additional data not collected as part of MB (e.g., if an individual lab investigates relationships between their lab’s MB data and other data collected by their lab)Empirical projects
MB1: Infant-Directed Speech Preference
Do infants prefer infant-directed speech? Do age, method, and native language background matter?Status:
COMPLETE
MB2: Theory of Mind
Do infants show anticipatory looking that reflects the false belief of another agent?Status:
MB2.1: under review (Stage 2); MB2.2 and MB2.3: design
MB-ManyTrackers: Evaluating Eye-Tracking Consistency and Accuracy and Its Impact on Key Dependent Variables across Different Systems in the ManyBabies2 Project
Status:Analysis
MB3: Rule Learning
Do infants learn and generalize identity-based rules from speech stimuli?Status:
COMPLETE
MB4: Social Evaluation
Do infants prefer agents who are seen to help over those who are seen to hinder?Status:
COMPLETE
MB5: Hunter & Ames Model of Infant Looking Preference
What factors shape infants’ preferences for familiar and novel stimuli?Status:
Data collection
MB5-Meta: Systematic Review of Infant Looking Time Preferences for Familiar and Novel Stimuli
Status:Data collection
MB6: Neonatal and Early Imitation
What is the nature of neonatal infants' imitation of gestures?Status:
Under review (Stage 1)
MB8: Screen Time
What is the nature of early childhood screen use around the globe, and how is it related to language and socio-emotional development?Status:
Design
MB9: Perceptual Specialization
How does perceptual specialization emerge across development, and how is this related to infants' context and experience?Status:
DesignMethodological projects
MB-AtHome: Online Infant Data Collection
Solutions for testing infants in their home, with a focus on measuring looksStatus:
Translation & data collection
MB-Demographics: Unified Demographics for MB Projects
Creating unified demographic forms for ManyBabies projects, with standardized constructs and templatesStatus:
COMPLETEAffiliated projects
CONNECT: Coordinated Network of Networks for Enhancing Collaborative Teams
SSHRC-funded partnership that unites Big Team Social Science (BTSS) networks and community organizations dedicated to improving scienceGo to the CONNECT website for more info
ManyManys1: Reversal Learning
Large-scale collaboration on comparative cognition and behavior across animal taxaGo to the ManyManys1 website for more info
New Projects
If you are interested in leading a new ManyBabies project (either a main project or a spin-off that would involve data collection across multiple labs), please check the project proposal form and/or contact the MB Governing Board.
Get Involved
We encourage everyone who is interested in developmental research to get involved! Access to infants/infant lab is not a prerequisite.