The science behind a baby’s smile. Two new studies suggest that smiling and other positive interactions with caregivers help shape infants’ emotional development. news.miami.edu/as/stories/2...

The science behind a baby’s smile

Two new studies suggest that smiling and other positive interactions with caregivers help shape infants’ emotional development.

news.miami.edu

Newborns observed side-by-side videos: one social (a human face with natural movement) and one non-social (metallic balls swinging). While infants generally preferred the social, females spent a greater proportion of time looking at the social video vs males. www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...

Link to paper: doi.org/10.1002/icd.... #OpenAccess

Children Avoid Sick Faces and Improve With Training: A Stage 2 Registered Report

Children are vulnerable to disease, yet are poor at recognizing and avoiding sickness. We recruited 5–9-year-olds (N = 120, 38% female, 60% White, 48% Hispanic/Latine) to test whether children's sick...

doi.org

Tiffany Leung (she/her)@tiffany6390.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Can we train children to better recognize and avoid cues of sickness? 🦠 Our findings suggest that children’s disease detection system is malleable! Our Stage 2 Registered Report is now available open access at Infant and Child Development! @simpson.bsky.social @soccoglab.bsky.social

Congrats to Shuo Zhang (@shuoz.bsky.social) for defending her master's thesis! She discovered infants may have stable levels of social attention, a trait linked to empathy in adults. Cheers!

Our research team—Nashmia, Danita, Georgia, & Anastassia—presented some of our lab's new findings on newborn social attention development at the RCIF conference! Thanks to Arushi, Shuo, & Tiffany for their mentorship & to the families who participated. #WomenInSTEM #UMiami

Casey, @lauriebayet.bsky.social @simpson.bsky.social et al. (2026) assessed & demo'd feasibility of webcam-based, asynchronous online behavioral studies w/ 0–6wos & caregivers ➡️ findings provide a foundation for future research on neonatal mimicry of caregivers #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Neonatal Mimicry of Caregivers at Home: Feasibility of an Asynchronous Online Paradigm

While early life sets the stage for later learning, comparatively less is known about newborns' cognition than that of older infants. A striking example is the lack of consensus regarding the extent ...

doi.org

#WomenInSTEM #UMiami

Infant study on friendship - looking for 12 to 16 month-olds! 🤗 umiami.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Neonatal mimicry of caregivers at home: Feasibility of an asynchronous online paradigm #OpenAccess by @lauriebayet.bsky.social & team! doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Neonatal Mimicry of Caregivers at Home: Feasibility of an Asynchronous Online Paradigm

While early life sets the stage for later learning, comparatively less is known about newborns' cognition than that of older infants. A striking example is the lack of consensus regarding the extent ...

doi.org

Kicking off the spring 2026 semester with this groovy crew! Back row: Georgia, Cat, Shuo. Front row: Nashmia, Danita, Arushi. (Not pictured: Anastassia.) #WomenInSTEM #UMiami

Welcome to our new research assistant, Danita Hullu! She is interested in research on parent-child bonds & attachment. In her free time, she enjoys creating personalized playlists for friends and family, playing the guitar, staying connected with friends abroad, & attending workout classes.

Want to support science on infants' emotions? Parents of babies (2-24 months) can complete our short, online study: umiami.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Memory helps you to remember things that are likely to be important later. Studies suggest that social interaction between people is one cue memory uses. My latest for @psychtoday.bsky.social www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ulte...

Social Interaction Affects Memory

Among the many types of information your memory system uses to decide what to remember, new research suggests social interaction influences what you learn.

psychologytoday.com

This week was full of firsts ✨. From testing the first baby for my PhD project, to presenting my work for the first time to my host lab - the @soccoglab.bsky.social (UM), and even giving my first Guest Lecture (thank you, Arushi!)🎓. I am really grateful for all the support I am receiving here 💚🧡

Don't miss out on our 5-9-year-old kid scientist study! Sign up by November 30th for our 1-hour visit to play fun games and receive these prizes: a tote bag, magnet, toy, and $25 Amazon gift card. Reserve your spot today! SCL@miami.edu

Congrats, Dr. @tiffany6390.bsky.social! 👏 news.miami.edu/stories/2025...

Big ideas in 180 seconds

The 10th Annual Three Minute Thesis Competition showcased graduate students across the University of Miami presenting research in fields ranging from medicine and computer engineering to literature an...

news.miami.edu

We've had a busy fall with these infant scientists! 🍂 Reach out if you'd like to participate with your baby: SCL@miami.edu.

Individual differences in sick face sensitivity: females are more sensitive to lassitude facial expressions than males - @tiffany6390.bsky.social Free for the next 50 days: urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

We're hiring at the University of Miami! The Department of Psychology is looking for a Child Clinical Psychology faculty member. As search chair, my contact info is in the job ad if anybody would like to discuss the position further umiami.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UMFaculty/jo...

A&S - Psychology - Assistant Professor to Assoc. Professor - Child Clinical/Family

Current Employees: If you are a current Staff, Faculty or Temporary employee at the University of Miami, please click here to log in to Workday to use the internal application process. To learn how to...

umiami.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

We are starting a new longitudinal study at the University of Miami! news.miami.edu/as/stories/2...

University of Miami joins international study on autism risk in young children

Psychologists in the College of Arts and Sciences are monitoring the development of infants and toddlers whose parents have a sibling with autism.

news.miami.edu

Stage 2 report now out! Newborn Auditory Brainstem Response and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome doi.org/10.1002/jnr.... #OpenAccess

First human newborn paper from my NSF CAREER Award! Automated detection of mouth opening in newborn infants - with our amazing @umiamipsych.bsky.social team: Guangyu Zung, Yeojin Amy Ahn, @tiffany6390.bsky.social, @semaylott.bsky.social, Arushi Malik, @dmessinger.bsky.social doi.org/10.3758/s134...

Automated detection of mouth opening in newborn infants - Behavior Research Methods

Automated behavioral measurement using machine learning is gaining ground in psychological research. Automated approaches have the potential to reduce the labor and time associated with manual behavio...

doi.org

Congratulations Amelia, Norik & Tiffany this year’s recipients of the Gail Ironson Distinguished Speaker Series Colloquium & Awards! This annual award recognizes outstanding research efforts by graduate students in psychology.

New research finds that a brain network active at birth is linked to social behavior later in life. www.futurity.org/brain-networ...

Social brain network is already active at birth

New research provides insight into the brain processes that underlie social behaviors later in life.

futurity.org

Join @dmessinger.bsky.social in our developmental psychology PhD program! #PsychSciSky

U Miami Dept of Psychology@umiamipsych.bsky.social · last yr.

Dr. Daniel Messinger is hoping to accept a doctoral student for fall 2026 admission. If you are interested in working with Dr. Messinger, please visit www.umkids-lab.psy.miami.edu for more information. For more information, see www.psy.miami.edu/graduate/how-to-apply

When children find loopholes for instructions, they apply advanced social & language skills www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...

Got a ‘Little Lawyer’ at Home? Their Rule-Bending Might Be a Social Strength

A new study finds that when young kids find loopholes, or sneaky work-arounds, for instructions, they must apply advanced social and language skills

scientificamerican.com

🧠🫀 New from our lab on Frontiers for Young Minds: Ever wondered how the heart and brain communicate? Think the heart as the drummer 🥁 & the brain as the singer 🎤 keeping the body's band in tune! Read here (for ages 8–15): kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2025.1536787/full [1/2]

The Body’s Band: How Heart and Brain Communicate

Illustration of a person with vitiligo practicing yoga, sitting cross-legged and stretching an arm over their head. In a thought bubble, a smiling brain sings into a microphone and a heart plays a dru...

frontiersin.org