ManyBabies 5: A large-scale investigation of the proposed shift from familiarity preference to novelty preference in infant looking time

Abstract

Much of our basic understanding of cognitive and social processes in infancy relies on measures of looking time, and specifically on infants’ visual preference for a novel or familiar stimulus. However, despite being the foundation of many behavioral tasks in infant research, the determinants of infants’ visual preferences are poorly understood, and differences in the expression of preferences can be difficult to interpret. In this large-scale study, we test predictions from the Hunter and Ames model of infants' visual preferences. We investigate the effects of three factors predicted by this model to determine infants’ preference for novel versus familiar stimuli: age, stimulus familiarity, and stimulus complexity. Drawing from a large and diverse sample of infant participants (N = XX), this study will provide crucial empirical evidence for a robust and generalizable model of infant visual preferences, leading to a more solid theoretical foundation for understanding the mechanisms that underlie infants’ responses in common behavioral paradigms. Moreover, our findings will guide future studies that rely on infants' visual preferences to measure cognitive and social processes.

No evidence for familiarity preferences after partial exposure to visual concepts in preschoolers and infants

“…First, familiarity preferences may be more subtle than novelty preferences, so that the statistical power that is needed to find familiarity preferences is higher than that achieved in the current study. A current large-scale study by the ManyBabies consortium which aims to test the predictions made by Hunter & Ames (1988) may give insight into this possibility (Kosie et al, 2023).…”

Effects of environmental diversity on exploration and learning: The case of bilingualism.

“…Greater recording of demographic information would allow for analysis of how infants’ experiences influence the allocation of attention. In this vein, a recent large multilab study, ManyBabies 5, will examine both exogenous and endogenous modulators of infant attention in a large and diverse sample (Kosie et al, 2023).…”

“…However, the interpretation of looking time is complex: As noted above, infants can express preferences for familiar or novel stimuli. As such there remains considerable uncertainty around the conditions under which infants demonstrate either type of preference (Kosie et al, 2023).…”

“…A predominant model of infant attention—the Hunter and Ames model—posits that these factors work in concert to produce familiarity versus novelty preferences (Hunter & Ames, 1988). Thus far, this model has been used to explain and predict findings in many areas of infant processing, such as speech segmentation, object memory, face recognition, musical perception, and memory for numbers amongst other areas (see Kosie et al, 2023). However, a major limitation is that this debate has centered heavily around endogenous determinants of attention (Hunter et al, 1983; Kosie et al, 2023).…”

“…Thus far, this model has been used to explain and predict findings in many areas of infant processing, such as speech segmentation, object memory, face recognition, musical perception, and memory for numbers amongst other areas (see Kosie et al, 2023). However, a major limitation is that this debate has centered heavily around endogenous determinants of attention (Hunter et al, 1983; Kosie et al, 2023). There has been little focus on how infants’ natural environments—and the diversity therein—might modulate infants’ attentional preferences.…”