ManyBabies (MB) is a collaborative project for replication and best practices in developmental psychology research. Our goal is to bring researchers together to address difficult outstanding theoretical and methodological questions about the nature of early development and how it is studied. For example:
- Do infants prefer helpers over hinderers?
- When do infants like familiarity and when do they like novelty?
- Do babies find infant-directed speech (babytalk) more interesting than adult-directed speech?
Learn more about MB’s origin, goals, people, and stay up to date. Also, for a detailed index of collaborators (+ institutions, countries, studies), check the MB collaborator dashboard.
Projects
The broader goals of ManyBabies come together in a set of collaborative projects. They are organized in main projects (either empirical or methodological), spin-off projects, and secondary analyses. Check out our main projects, together with their affiliated spin-off projects and secondary analyses:
Empirical

MB1: Infant-Directed Speech Preference
Do infants prefer infant-directed speech? Do age, method, and native language background matter? Learn more
MB2: Theory of Mind in Infancy
Do infants show anticipatory looking that reflects the false belief of another agent? Learn more
MB3: Rule Learning
Do infants learn and generalize identity-based rules from speech stimuli? Learn more
MB4: Social Evaluation
Do infants prefer agents who are seen to help over those who are seen to hinder? Learn more
MB5: The Hunter & Ames Model of Infant Looking Preferences
What factors shape infants’ preferences for familiar and novel stimuli? Learn moreMethodological

MB-AtHome: Online Infant Data Collection
Solutions for testing infants in their home, with a focus on measuring looks. Learn more
MB-Demographics: Unified Demographics for ManyBabies Projects
In this project we are creating unified demographic forms for ManyBabies projects, with standardized and custom questions. Learn more
MB-ManyWebcams: Web-based Eye Tracking for Infant Studies
Automatic gaze detection via webcam. Learn morePublications
Check out ManyBabies reports and conference presentations.
Get involved
We encourage everyone who is interested in developmental research to get involved! Access to infants/infant lab is not a prerequisite.
Updates
If you are a ManyBabies collaborator, don’t forget to keep an updated record of your MB-related activities and initiatives (e.g., workshops, talks etc.). In this spreadsheet you can check a more complete list of MB activities and initiatives. To add new activities and initiatives, please complete this form.