A new study from the Early Life Care Institute (led by Ismair et al., 2026) shows infants are active conversational partners with dads, too — taking turns from early on. Fathers' mentalizing predicts smoother exchanges with fewer overlaps #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Piuze et al. (2026): Bilingual exposure was not associated with stronger inhibitory control in toddlers aged 16–24 months. However, performance improved with age, supporting the ECITT as a sensitive measure of early executive function development #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

A Test of the Cognitive Benefits of Bilingualism With the Early Childhood Inhibitory Touchscreen Task

There is some evidence suggesting that bilingual children differ from monolingual children in cognitive processing due to their exposure to a more complex environment. While several studies have supp...

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Passionate about fostering the next wave of infant researchers? Be a mentor for the ICIS Founding Generation Summer Fellowship! Share your insights, support young minds, and leave a lasting impact. LAST DAY TO SIGN UP! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Attention ICIS members! Here's your chance to guide and inspire emerging talents in infant studies. Join us as a mentor for the Founding Generation Summer Fellowship. Together, let's build a brighter future for #InfantResearch. Sign up now by Oct 21, 2026: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Crying is one of infants’ earliest signals. Across 53 studies, Mannarino et al. (2026) found no clear overall diff in cry pitch btwn preterm & full-term infants. Mixed findings & methodological var'y show why more consistent research is needed #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Acoustic Features, Parental Perception and Developmental Correlations of Crying in Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Infants born preterm present a higher likelihood of differences in social and emotional communication. Crying, as the earliest form of human communication, may provide valuable information about earl...

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Calling all ICIS members! Make a difference this summer by becoming a mentor for the Founding Generation Summer Fellowship. Share your expertise, inspire budding researchers, and help shape the future of #InfantResearch. Applications close Oct 21, 2026. Sign up here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Padilla Colón et al. (2026) observed different joint agency episodes in Argentine Indigenous Wichí communities (multiparty, non-verbally mediated, surrounding materials) & urban Eurodescendant families (dyadic, verbally mediated, domestic toys) #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Pathways to Agency: Cross‐Cultural Evidence From Indigenous Wichi and Eurodescendant Caregiver‐Infant Interactions

This study reveals a new social interactional framework—joint agency—that permits us to better understand the early development of agency in infants being raised in culturally distinct socialization ...

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Marin et al. (2026): 4-5mos infants looked longer when sound was temporally misaligned with collision, not when collision changed colour unexpectedly ➡️ suggests that infants may already have expectations about how collision events unfold in the physical world #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Infants Anticipate the Timing of Sounds From Dynamic Collision Events

In everyday perception, expected sounds are predicted by the movement of dynamic objects. Here, we asked if four-to five-month-old infants' understanding of physical events allows them to use motion ...

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Are you passionate about nurturing young minds in #InfantResearch? Volunteer as a mentor for the ICIS Founding Generation Summer Fellowship Program! Be a guiding light for the next generation of infant researchers. Sign up now. Applications close October 21, 2026 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

- @leilalarson.bsky.social @glall91.bsky.social et al. (2026): nutrition, psychosocial stimulation and food security in rural Bangladeshi children are important for resting state EEG, even months after exposure #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Brain Activity of Young Children in Bangladesh Is Associated With Biopsychosocial Conditions at the Individual‐, Family‐, and Household‐Level

Adversities in early life compromise children's nurturing care and impact their development. This study explored the biopsychosocial conditions associated with electroencephalography (EEG)-based bra.....

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Liu (@diliu.bsky.social) and Feigenson (2026) found that infants understand surprise as a response to information that is new to the observer. Unlike happiness, repeated surprise from the same person suggests multiple new discoveries #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Infants Understand That Surprise Is Caused by Novel Information

Infants use others' emotional expressions to make inferences about the world, for example by inferring candidate causes of their happiness or sadness. However, one emotion—surprise—is less clearly li...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

- @kaylinhill.bsky.social, Malachowski, @amyneedham.bsky.social, @klhumphreys.bsky.social (2026): Some babies explore objects at a fast pace. Others stay with one toy and study it. Surgency was linked to faster exploration tempo #Play #FreePlay #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Understanding Object Exploration: The Role of Temperament Early in Life

Object exploration presents infants and young children with valuable opportunities for learning across domains. What factors motivate and constrain exploratory behavior? In the present studies, we hi...

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- @arekbialek.bsky.social @wimpouw.bsky.social @babajideowoyele.bsky.social & Filip (2026) studied the earliest inf-initiated, obj-related joint activities: throwing&passing exchange constitute paired-action seq. incl. intentional communication #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Infant‐Caregiver Object‐Related Paired Actions as Communication Development

Human communication is grounded in social interaction, and infants begin to communicate before producing their first words. In interaction with caregivers, they engage in coordinated object-related a...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Rajendra et al. (2026): 2yos use verb meaning to predict upcoming words, even when words are mispronounced. Both monolingual & bilingual toddlers integrated semantic & phonological cues, with bilinguals showing evidence of earlier integration of these cues #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Wei, Surrain et al.'s (2026) findings highlight music's embodied and enactive contributions to language & motor devt, and provide novel insights into how music relates to devt in multilingual home environments #Music #Language #Multilingual #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Tuning in to Development: How Home Music Activities Relate to Language and Motor Skills in Toddlers From Monolingual and Multilingual Home Environments

Music and language are both multimodal inputs that shape early development, supporting shared attention, sensorimotor coordination, and embodied engagement. Although structured musical training has b....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Rachwani, Herzberg & Adolph (2026): flexibility in postural control is integral to learning to sit. Trunk control enables infants to adapt to novel threats to balance by maintaining stability over progressively smaller bases of support #MotorDevelopment #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Infants Adapt Sitting to a Decreasing Base of Support

As infants acquire postural control, they learn to keep balance over a progressively smaller base of support. We systematically tested the development of postural control from a floor sit, where infa...

doi.org

Insights from Behm et al. (2026) 766 fMRI analyses of awake 1-36mo infants in Saxe/Turk-Browne Labs: 1) 12-24mos provided most usable data 2) maximise data retention: use movies designs, social stimuli & aim to collect multiple expts/session #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Awake Infants: Insights From More Than 750 Scanning Sessions

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in awake infants has the potential to reveal how the early developing brain gives rise to cognition and behavior. However, awake infant fMRI poses signifi...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

We would like to congratulate all #ICIS2026 award recipients on their spectacular work. Repost this if you spot yourself! @laurelgd.bsky.social @elialasalvadori.bsky.social @ruiqi26.bsky.social and many others! youtu.be/Eb6hvKCc_i8

ICIS 2026 Recap. Society Awards

YouTube video by ICIS Communications

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Wei et al. (2026) show key precondition for contingent-response hypothesis (i.e., pointing elicits caregivers' responses that facilitate word learning): adults correctly interpret infants' pointing intent and provide appropriate input #pointing #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

What Is the Baby “Saying”? Adults' Interpretation of Infants' Pointing Gestures

Infants' early pointing gestures predict their language development. One hypothesized mechanism for this relation is that pointing elicits caregivers' responses that facilitate word learning. This co...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

(1/2) @angeladou.bsky.social @lkcirelli.bsky.social et al. (2026) used an online preferential listening paradigm to present infants with song conditions that were familiar, novel, or mismatched in melody and lyric familiarity #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Melody and Lyrics Are Integrated by Late Infancy During Recognition of Music Learned at Home

Familiar songs are often more effective than unfamiliar songs at capturing infant attention, regulating emotion, and eliciting rhythmic movements, but how infants rely on lyrics and melody to recogni...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Lai et al. (2026): Infants use single words (requests: “more”, protests: “no!”) to convey their needs. Caregivers are more likely to respond to infants’ multimodal requests & protests—words that are paired with gestures or actions—than to respond to words alone #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Infants' Multimodal Requests and Protests Elicit Responses From Mothers During Everyday Home Activities

During early vocabulary growth, infants use single words to express complete ideas. Requests (“milk”) and protests (“no!”) are fundamental ways that infants communicate their needs. However, understa...

doi.org

Prof Andy Bremner and our PhD researchers, Jieyi Liu and Rachel Martlew presented their recent work on infant development at ICIS2026 @infantstudies.bsky.social Thanks to the organisers, presenters, and attendees for a great week in Panama City 🌎✈️

Chai et al. (2026) find a devtal shift towards less gestural & more verbal strategies for initiating interaction ➡️ show key role of gaze & obj-oriented action in early interaction & adaptability of communicative strategies in mum-child exchanges #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Developmental Shift in Multimodal Cue Usage in Early Mother‐Child Conversational Initiation

Early mother–child conversational initiation is increasingly understood as a developmentally dynamic, embodied, and socially embedded process in which caregivers and children coordinate multimodal cu...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

- @samanthaplate.bsky.social, Schneider, & Iverson (2026) find that infant vocal production ‘dips’ around walk onset & babies only begin coordinating vocalization with walking after 1 month of walking experience #DevPsySky #PsychSciSky #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Dips in Development: Learning to Walk Temporarily Disrupts Infant Vocalization

Infant development is a dynamic, cross-domain process. Infants acquire new skills, integrate them with well-established behaviors, and do so simultaneously. New skills can bolster development of exis...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

How in sync are parents and babies, and can AI measure it? Sfeir et al. (2026) use theory-guided machine learning to predict dyadic synchrony, opening new doors for studying early relationships #EarlyYears #DevPsySky #PsychSciSky #MachineLearning #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Predicting Dyadic Synchrony: A Theory‐Driven Machine Learning Approach

Dyadic synchrony, defined as the coordination of emotional and behavioral signals between mother and child, is a central mechanism supporting early socioemotional development. However, predicting its...

doi.org

Latest from the Baby Blog: Uncovering cognition in young infants using deep neural networks and awake fMRI by @clionaod.bsky.social and @ainedineen.bsky.social infantstudies.org/uncovering-c... #infantstudies #EarlyYears #Research #science #DevPsySky #PsychSciSky

And a quick visual roundup of BabylabPAN’s talks by @agata-koziol.bsky.social and posters by @itziarlozano.bsky.social Joanna Duda-Goławska and Maria Garcia Marin at the last @infantstudies.bsky.social ICIS2026. All posters for download here babylab.edu.pl/osiagniecia/...

1/2 @agata-koziol.bsky.social, Laudańska, Babis, D'Souza, @tomalski.bsky.social (2026): 9mos' obj contact depends on interaction btwn body position & obj type, show'g patterns structured studies examining these factors in isolation can't predict #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Toward Understanding Free‐Flowing Manual Object Contact: Real‐Time Interaction Between Body Position and Object Type in 9‐Month‐Olds

Infants manually contact objects differently depending on their body position and the physical properties of objects. Previous studies have examined these factors separately, in structured laboratory...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

1/4 Great week at #ICIS2026 in Panama City, Panama! It was wonderful to catch up with colleagues, meet new people, and both share and hear about latest research.

Our team had a fantastic time at #ICIS2026 with lots of great talks, posters, discussions and plenty of inspiration for future research! Thanks @infantstudies.bsky.social and all the amazing attendees. We’re looking forward to #ICIS2028 on our home turf, Vienna 🇦🇹