Can Babies Do Addition?

For 14 month olds.

Your baby will first watch a series of videos in which a cup moves behind a wall and, while hidden, leaves an object behind. The wall is then removed, and your baby will see the object. This shows babies that the cup always adds one object. Then, your baby will see videos in which the cup moves twice behind the same wall, and then the wall is removed to reveal either the right number of objects or a different number. We measure how long your baby looks at each outcome.

In this study, we are interested in how babies keep track of objects that are not in view. In everyday life, we infer the existence of objects we cannot see. For example, when you receive a package in the mail, you expect that the box contains something even if you can’t see what it is. We are interested in the early development of this ability. Our previous research shows that babies can keep track of multiple objects that are hidden from view, and they can infer that a cup contains an object even if they don’t see the object inside directly. Here, we are looking at the limits on this ability by examining whether babies can keep track of multiple inferred objects. By measuring how long babies look at the display, we can better understand babies’ early capacity to infer and think about multiple objects.

15 minutes

$5 amazon.com e-gift card within one week. Only one gift card per eligible participant, no repeats. To receive compensation, your baby needs to be in the age range and needs to be visible in the video.