ManyBabies

ManyBabies folks will be interested in many of the sessions at this year’s BTSCON, including a panel about what we’ve learned from the first 10 years of MB. Check out the program and register now! All fees are optional, but MB gets a share of the proceeds ☺️ bigteamscienceconference.github.io

Join us the Big Team Science Conference, where I'll be presenting live via Zoom on Tuesday, October 6 from 22:00-22:55 UTC (3 pm Arizona time). "Improving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Open Science: Recognizing Strengths and Opportunities in the Majority World"

This survey is still open! Help us shape canine cognition research!

I’ll be presenting next week @btscon.bsky.social on integrating undergraduate students into big team science projects in an advanced course. Come check out my presentation on Tuesday 10/6 at 2pm Eastern!

ManyBabies folks will be interested in many of the sessions at this year’s BTSCON, including a panel about what we’ve learned from the first 10 years of MB. Check out the program and register now! All fees are optional, but MB gets a share of the proceeds ☺️ bigteamscienceconference.github.io

The result forces us to re-think rule-learning: is early rule-learning a robust, universal ability, or context-dependent? It also shows the value of large, pre-registered, blinded, team-science replication for knowing what our field actually stands on. 6/

Robust finding across different factors: no moderation by age, by mono-/multilingualism, or by method. No leftover heterogeneity between labs. Robust to our pre-processing & analysis choices. 30 of 31 samples showed no rule-learning effect. 5/

The result: no difference in looking to consistent vs inconsistent patterns. No evidence of rule learning. And a Bayesian analysis gives strong evidence for the null (BF₀₁ ≈ 30) — this is a positive finding of “no effect,” not merely a failure to detect one. 4/

ManyBabies 3 is a large, cross-linguistic conceptual replication: 650 analysed infants, ages 5–12 months, 33 primary languages, mono- & multilingual, across 3 paradigms (headturn, central fixation, eye-tracking). Stimuli phonologically balanced across languages. 3/

The original (@garymarcus.bsky.social 1999): infants hear “ga ti ti” (ABB) or “ga ti ga” (ABA), then generalise the pattern to brand-new syllables. It’s been cited 1900+ times as evidence infants learn algebraic, grammar-like rules — a cornerstone of infant cognition. 2/

New paper 🍼📄 ManyBabies 3 is out (open access, registered report in Developmental Science). 30 labs, 33 languages, 839 infants set out to replicate a textbook finding: 7-month-olds learn abstract rules from speech (@garymarcus.bsky.social et al., 1999). We didn’t find it. 🧵

This was a fantastic team effort across 30+ labs 🌍 Paper (open access), data & code all public. > 📄 doi.org/10.1111/desc... > 💻 github.com/manybabies/m... > #ManyBabies #InfantCognition #OpenScience #DevSci, lead team: Andreea Geambaşu, Melanie Soderstrom, and Claartje Levelt

📢 Quick Reminder: Register for ReproducibiliTea 2026! The ReproducibiliTea Conference 2026 is approaching fast! Don't miss out on connecting with the global community to dive into this year's theme: "Spilling the ReproducibiliTea: A decade on & decades ahead."

ManyBeds 🥰🤗🛏️🛏️🛏️🥱😴

REGISTER NOW to get access to dozens of sessions related to Big Team Science, including talks from the leaders of the SCORE project (@cos.io) and CREP (www.crep-psych.org) and a live recording of the "Research as it Happens" podcast hosted by @rolfzwaan.eurosky.social! ALL FEES ARE OPTIONAL!

Submit an abstract for a talk, symposium, hackathon, panel, or unconference on anything related to Big Team or Open Science. Get those submissions in by August 1! Guidelines and submission link can be found here: bigteamscienceconference.github.io/submissions/

The 2026 Big Team Science Conference #BTSCON2026 will be held October 6-8, live (and recorded) on Zoom. Submissions and registration are OPEN NOW! bigteamscienceconference.github.io

#ICIS2026 @mzettersten.bsky.social taking about the MB5-Meta project, a systematic meta-analytical review of infant looking time preferences for novel vs. familiar visual stimuli. 💥 👀 🍎 Learn more here: manybabies.org/MB5-Meta/

#ICIS2026 Raji Madhavan presenting MB-AtHome: Looking-While-Listening (MBAH1-LWL) 👶🏠 👏🥰 Join an info session next week to learn more! Info at: manybabies.org/MBAH1/

Biggest experimental study of Africa infant cognition! I’m very proud that we were able to get this project finished, despite COVID restrictions starting a month after our kickoff.

🚨 Publication alert! Exploring Variation in Infants' Preference for Infant-directed Speech: Evidence From a Multi-Site Study in Africa Congrats to the entire MB1-Africa team! manybabies.org/MB1A/ doi.org/10.1111/desc...

@mzettersten.bsky.social with data from @manybabies.org presents on knowledge vs. ignorance-based violation of expectation in toddlers and adults

#ICIS2026 @mzettersten.bsky.social presenting about MB2P (Theory of Mind pupillometry) in the Early Career Symposium! 👏👏👏

Big Team Science projects like @manybabies.org @themanybirds.bsky.social etc. are brilliant for more reasons that this short piece can cover, including their openness to researchers from all contexts and backgrounds - you don't even need to have access to the target population! #OpenScience

New article in Nature about Big Team Science with lots of quotes from CONNECT members! @manybabies.org @themanybirds.bsky.social @manydogsproject.bsky.social @cos.io

Collective action is the most gratifying part of the reform movement. Grassroots groups like the many Many Manys are the most wonderful manifestation of it. Driven by curiosity and purpose, researchers come together to solve big problems with creative collaborations. That's why I science.

ManyBabies ManyBirds ManyDogs It sounds like scientists are assembling an army of cuteness.

@manybabies.org in Nature! www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I'll only join virtually and miss out on beautiful Leiden, but if you're at @ehbea2026.bsky.social do join our symposium on Thursday afternoon and chat about big data and big team science. Looking forward to it and to representing @manybabies.org

The paper is available open access on Open Mind: doi.org/10.1162/opmi...

Big Team Science projects like ManyBabies work best if many people contribute, you can get involved here: manybabies.org/get_involved/ or reach out to @hbaum.bsky.social

Then they compared their results to a traditional meta-analysis and MetaLab's community-augmented meta-analysis (langcog.github.io/metalab/), finding that the replications had much more homogeneous effect sizes and different moderators. (sorry, all of these slides are really exciting)

For example, for ManyBabies 1 ("Do babies prefer infant-directed speech vs. adult-directed speech?"), they tested >2K babies with 149 authors from 16 countries. The hypothesis could be confirmed - but there was also a methods effect and lots of variability through age and language.

@chbergma.bsky.social is now discussing replications versus meta-analyses in the context of infant studies. For example, at @manybabies.org, researchers are teaming up to promote open science and replications.

⏰The deadline for applications to GRIOS's Academic Advisory Board is just one week away! Interested in joining a community of meta-research specialists, aiming to influence the #research agenda on #OpenScience and helping with #EvidenceBased policies? 🟢 Apply by 26 Nov: www.grios.org/academic-adv...

🗓️ Upcoming event: "Navigating Career Development in Open and Big Team Science" November 24, 3-4pm UTC manymanys.github.io/2025-11-13-p...

We're so excited to announce that our first official CONNECT preprint is now available: "A network of networks: The next frontier for Big Team Science" 🔗 doi.org/10.31234/osf... Please read, share, and give us feedback! ✉️ connect-contact[at]manybabies[dot]org

🗣️ Upcoming event featuring @psysciacc.bsky.social co-director Erin Buchanan (aka @aggieerin.bsky.social): "How Open Science Bridges Cultures and Promotes Best Practices" Nov 13, 2pm ET Learn more and register: div52.net/webinars/

📰 ICYMI: the refreshed OSF interface is live! The redesign makes it easier to navigate projects, find key features, and manage research across every stage. Check out a quick summary of the updates on our blog, plus a link to download our one-page quick guide. 🔗

As we wrap up this year's conference, we want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all of our 2025 BTSCON presenters and attendees. What a fantastic community of collaborative science enthusiasts! We can't wait to gather with you all again next year!

Leaders of the ManyBabies 2, 3, and 4 projects will be presenting at the @btscon.bsky.social in less than 1 hour!! Register now (for free if you’d like!) to get the zoom link and/or access to the recording! bigteamscienceconference.github.io/registration/

Please help us spread the word about the 2025 BTSCON (Oct 6-8) with your big-team-science-loving friends and colleagues. Can't wait to see you all there! bigteamscienceconference.github.io

Catch keynotes from @angeladuckworth.bsky.social and Christopher Stubbs, featured sessions about Big Team Science in the Majority World, and presentations from all your favorite "Manys" including @manyprimates.bsky.social @manybabies.org @manydogsproject.bsky.social, etc. ALL THAT AND MORE!!

There's still time to register for the 2025 Big Team Science Conference (October 6-8, live on Zoom)! All fees are OPTIONAL, so you can pay what you'd like (or nothing at all!) to gain access to a ton of amazing BTS content. bigteamscienceconference.github.io/registration/

Our full 2025 program and schedule are now up on our website! We've got so many great presentations lined up, you won't want to miss it! bigteamscienceconference.github.io/program/

🚨 Deadline Extended! 🚨 We’ve extended the #BigTeamScience conference submission deadline to August 8! 🧠🌎 Don’t miss your chance to be part of this global, interdisciplinary event! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...