Infants’ Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large‐Scale, Multi‐Lab, Coordinated Replication Study

Kelsey Lucca; Francis Yuen; Yiyi Wang; Nicolás Alessandroni; Olivia Allison; Mario Alvarez; Emma L. Axelsson; Janina Baumer; Heidi A. Baumgartner; Julie Bertels; Mitali Bhavsar; Krista Byers‐Heinlein; Arthur Capelier‐Mourguy; Hitomi Chijiiwa; Chantelle S.‐S. Chin; Natalie Christner; Laura K. Cirelli; John Corbit; Moritz M. Daum; Tiffany Doan; Michaela Dresel; Anna Exner; Wenxi Fei; Samuel H. Forbes; Laura Franchin; Michael C. Frank; Alessandra Geraci; Michelle Giraud; Megan E. Gornik; Charlotte Grosse Wiesmann; Tobias Grossmann; Isabelle M. Hadley; Naomi Havron; Annette M. E. Henderson; Emmy Higgs Matzner; Bailey A. Immel; Grzegorz Jankiewicz; Wiktoria Jędryczka; Yasuhiro Kanakogi; Jonathan F. Kominsky; Casey Lew‐Williams; Zoe Liberman; Liquan Liu; Yilin Liu; Miriam T. Loeffler; Alia Martin; Julien Mayor; Xianwei Meng; Michal Misiak; David Moreau; Mira L. Nencheva; Linda S. Oña; Yenny Otálora; Markus Paulus; Bill Pepe; Charisse B. Pickron; Lindsey J. Powell; Marina Proft; Alyssa A. Quinn; Hannes Rakoczy; Peter J. Reschke; Ronit Roth‐Hanania; Katrin Rothmaler; Karola Schlegelmilch; Laura Schlingloff‐Nemecz; Mark A. Schmuckler; Tobias Schuwerk; Sabine Seehagen; Hilal H. Şen; Munna R. Shainy; Valentina Silvestri; Melanie Soderstrom; Jessica Sommerville; Hyun‐joo Song; Piotr Sorokowski; Sandro E. Stutz; Yanjie Su; Hernando Taborda‐Osorio; Alvin W. M. Tan; Denis Tatone; Teresa Taylor‐Partridge; Chiu Kin Adrian Tsang; Arkadiusz Urbanek; Florina Uzefovsky; Ingmar Visser; Annie E. Wertz; Madison Williams; Kristina Wolsey; Terry Tin‐Yau Wong; Amanda M. Woodward; Yang Wu; Zhen Zeng; Lucie Zimmer; J. Kiley Hamlin

doi:10.1111/desc.13581

Infants’ Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large‐Scale, Multi‐Lab, Coordinated Replication Study

Kelsey Lucca^*, Francis Yuen, Yiyi Wang, Nicolás Alessandroni, Olivia Allison, Mario Alvarez, Emma L. Axelsson, Janina Baumer, Heidi A. Baumgartner, Julie Bertels, Mitali Bhavsar, Krista Byers‐Heinlein, Arthur Capelier‐Mourguy, Hitomi Chijiiwa, Chantelle S.‐S. Chin, Natalie Christner, Laura K. Cirelli, John Corbit, Moritz M. Daum, Tiffany DoanMichaela Dresel, Anna Exner, Wenxi Fei, Samuel H. Forbes, Laura Franchin, Michael C. Frank, Alessandra Geraci, Michelle Giraud, Megan E. Gornik, Charlotte Grosse Wiesmann, Tobias Grossmann, Isabelle M. Hadley, Naomi Havron, Annette M. E. Henderson, Emmy Higgs Matzner, Bailey A. Immel, Grzegorz Jankiewicz, Wiktoria Jędryczka, Yasuhiro Kanakogi, Jonathan F. Kominsky, Casey Lew‐Williams, Zoe Liberman, Liquan Liu, Yilin Liu, Miriam T. Loeffler, Alia Martin, Julien Mayor, Xianwei Meng, Michal Misiak, David Moreau, Mira L. Nencheva, Linda S. Oña, Yenny Otálora, Markus Paulus, Bill Pepe, Charisse B. Pickron, Lindsey J. Powell, Marina Proft, Alyssa A. Quinn, Hannes Rakoczy, Peter J. Reschke, Ronit Roth‐Hanania, Katrin Rothmaler, Karola Schlegelmilch, Laura Schlingloff‐Nemecz, Mark A. Schmuckler, Tobias Schuwerk, Sabine Seehagen, Hilal H. Şen, Munna R. Shainy, Valentina Silvestri, Melanie Soderstrom, Jessica Sommerville, Hyun‐joo Song, Piotr Sorokowski, Sandro E. Stutz, Yanjie Su, Hernando Taborda‐Osorio, Alvin W. M. Tan, Denis Tatone, Teresa Taylor‐Partridge, Chiu Kin Adrian Tsang, Arkadiusz Urbanek, Florina Uzefovsky, Ingmar Visser, Annie E. Wertz, Madison Williams, Kristina Wolsey, Terry Tin‐Yau Wong, Amanda M. Woodward, Yang Wu, Zhen Zeng, Lucie Zimmer, J. Kiley Hamlin

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic

Abstract

Evaluating whether someone's behavior is praiseworthy or blameworthy is a fundamental human trait. A seminal study by Hamlin and colleagues in 2007 suggested that the ability to form social evaluations based on third-party interactions emerges within the first year of life: infants preferred a character who helped, over hindered, another who tried but failed to climb a hill. This sparked a new line of inquiry into the origins of social evaluations; however, replication attempts have yielded mixed results. We present a preregistered, multi-laboratory, standardized study aimed at replicating infants’ preference for Helpers over Hinderers. We intended to (1) provide a precise estimate of the effect size of infants’ preference for Helpers over Hinderers, and (2) determine the degree to which preferences are based on social information. Using the ManyBabies framework for big team-based science, we tested 1018 infants (567 included, 5.5–10.5 months) from 37 labs across five continents. Overall, 49.34% of infants preferred Helpers over Hinderers in the social condition, and 55.85% preferred characters who pushed up, versus down, an inanimate object in the nonsocial condition; neither proportion differed from chance or from each other. This study provides evidence against infants’ prosocial preferences in the hill paradigm, suggesting the effect size is weaker, absent, and/or develops later than previously estimated. As the first of its kind, this study serves as a proof-of-concept for using active behavioral measures (e.g., manual choice) in large-scale, multi-lab projects studying infants.

Original language	English
Article number	e13581
Journal	Developmental Science
Volume	28
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13581
Publication status	Published - Jan 2025
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Funding

Piotr Sorokowski was supported by Being Human Incubator funds; Yenny Otalora was supported by CI: 5348, funded by Universidad del Valle; Hernando Taborda-Osorio was supported by code 00010364 Universidad Javeriana; Nicolas Alessandroni was supported by Concordia Horizon Postdoctoral Fellowship; Hannes Rakoczy was supported by DFG RA 2155/7-2; Tobias Schuwerk was supported by DFG SCHU3060/2-1; Denis Tatone and Laura Schlingloff- Nemecz were supported by ERC Horizon 2020 742231 awarded to Gergely Csibra; Lindsey J. Powell was supported by Hellman Fund Fellowship; Kelsey Lucca was supported by funds from Arizona State University Department of Psychology; Mario Alvarez was supported by an APA SUPER fellowship; Florina Uzefovsky was supported by ISF 561/18; Liquan Liu was supported by MSCA-IF-798658; Foundation of Graduates in Early Childhood Studies under the Forest Hill section of the Trust; Yanjie Su was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, 32071075; Mark A. Schmuckler was supported by NSERC Discovery Grant; Melanie Soderstrom was supported by NSERC Discovery RGPIN-2023-04285 and RGPIN-05367-2019; Tobias Grossmann was supported by NSF 2017229; Annette M. E. Henderson was supported by PBRF grants, School of Psychology, University of Auckland; John Corbit was supported by NSERC 2023-05954; Moritz M. Daum was supported by SNF 10001G_20768; J. Kiley Hamlin was supported by SSHRC Partnership Development Grant 890-2020-0059 and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grant (12R20573); Hilal H. & Scedil;en was supported by University of Akureyri Internal Grant R2308; Jessica Sommerville was supported by a grant from NICHD (1R01HD076949-01); Terry Tin-Yau Wong was supported by University of Hong Kong, Seed Fund for Basic Research, 104006653; Hyun-joo Song was supported by grant NRF-2020S1A5A2A01042840; Annie E. Wertz was supported by funding from the Max Planck Society.

Funders	Funder number
Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation
Arizona State University
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Concordia Horizon Postdoctoral Fellowship
ERC Horizon 2020 742231
Universidad del Valle
National Science Foundation	2017229
California Department of Fish and Game	SCHU3060/2-1, RA 2155/7-2
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada	890‐2020‐0059, 12R20573
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development	1R01HD076949‐01
University of Hong Kong	NRF‐2020S1A5A2A01042840, 104006653
National Natural Science Foundation of China	32071075
University of Auckland	2023–05954
School Nutrition Foundation	10001G_20768
Háskólinn á Akureyri	R2308
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada	RGPIN‐05367‐2019, RGPIN‐2023‐04285
Iowa Science Foundation	561/18, MSCA‐IF‐798658

Keywords

experimental methods
infancy
moral development
reproducibility
social cognition
social development

Access to Document

10.1111/desc.13581

Cite this

Lucca, K., Yuen, F., Wang, Y., Alessandroni, N., Allison, O., Alvarez, M., Axelsson, E. L., Baumer, J., Baumgartner, H. A., Bertels, J., Bhavsar, M., Byers‐Heinlein, K., Capelier‐Mourguy, A., Chijiiwa, H., Chin, C. S. S., Christner, N., Cirelli, L. K., Corbit, J., Daum, M. M., ... Hamlin, J. K. (2025). Infants’ Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large‐Scale, Multi‐Lab, Coordinated Replication Study. Developmental Science, 28(1), Article e13581. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13581

@article{0e0084727fe545ed855a03f709ba9e9b,

title = "Infants{\textquoteright} Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large‐Scale, Multi‐Lab, Coordinated Replication Study",

abstract = "Evaluating whether someone's behavior is praiseworthy or blameworthy is a fundamental human trait. A seminal study by Hamlin and colleagues in 2007 suggested that the ability to form social evaluations based on third-party interactions emerges within the first year of life: infants preferred a character who helped, over hindered, another who tried but failed to climb a hill. This sparked a new line of inquiry into the origins of social evaluations; however, replication attempts have yielded mixed results. We present a preregistered, multi-laboratory, standardized study aimed at replicating infants{\textquoteright} preference for Helpers over Hinderers. We intended to (1) provide a precise estimate of the effect size of infants{\textquoteright} preference for Helpers over Hinderers, and (2) determine the degree to which preferences are based on social information. Using the ManyBabies framework for big team-based science, we tested 1018 infants (567 included, 5.5–10.5 months) from 37 labs across five continents. Overall, 49.34\% of infants preferred Helpers over Hinderers in the social condition, and 55.85\% preferred characters who pushed up, versus down, an inanimate object in the nonsocial condition; neither proportion differed from chance or from each other. This study provides evidence against infants{\textquoteright} prosocial preferences in the hill paradigm, suggesting the effect size is weaker, absent, and/or develops later than previously estimated. As the first of its kind, this study serves as a proof-of-concept for using active behavioral measures (e.g., manual choice) in large-scale, multi-lab projects studying infants.",

keywords = "experimental methods, infancy, moral development, reproducibility, social cognition, social development",

author = "Kelsey Lucca and Francis Yuen and Yiyi Wang and Nicol{\'a}s Alessandroni and Olivia Allison and Mario Alvarez and Axelsson, \{Emma L.\} and Janina Baumer and Baumgartner, \{Heidi A.\} and Julie Bertels and Mitali Bhavsar and Krista Byers‐Heinlein and Arthur Capelier‐Mourguy and Hitomi Chijiiwa and Chin, \{Chantelle S.‐S.\} and Natalie Christner and Cirelli, \{Laura K.\} and John Corbit and Daum, \{Moritz M.\} and Tiffany Doan and Michaela Dresel and Anna Exner and Wenxi Fei and Forbes, \{Samuel H.\} and Laura Franchin and Frank, \{Michael C.\} and Alessandra Geraci and Michelle Giraud and Gornik, \{Megan E.\} and Wiesmann, \{Charlotte Grosse\} and Tobias Grossmann and Hadley, \{Isabelle M.\} and Naomi Havron and Henderson, \{Annette M. E.\} and Matzner, \{Emmy Higgs\} and Immel, \{Bailey A.\} and Grzegorz Jankiewicz and Wiktoria J{\c e}dryczka and Yasuhiro Kanakogi and Kominsky, \{Jonathan F.\} and Casey Lew‐Williams and Zoe Liberman and Liquan Liu and Yilin Liu and Loeffler, \{Miriam T.\} and Alia Martin and Julien Mayor and Xianwei Meng and Michal Misiak and David Moreau and Nencheva, \{Mira L.\} and O{\~n}a, \{Linda S.\} and Yenny Ot{\'a}lora and Markus Paulus and Bill Pepe and Pickron, \{Charisse B.\} and Powell, \{Lindsey J.\} and Marina Proft and Quinn, \{Alyssa A.\} and Hannes Rakoczy and Reschke, \{Peter J.\} and Ronit Roth‐Hanania and Katrin Rothmaler and Karola Schlegelmilch and Laura Schlingloff‐Nemecz and Schmuckler, \{Mark A.\} and Tobias Schuwerk and Sabine Seehagen and {\c S}en, \{Hilal H.\} and Shainy, \{Munna R.\} and Valentina Silvestri and Melanie Soderstrom and Jessica Sommerville and Hyun‐joo Song and Piotr Sorokowski and Stutz, \{Sandro E.\} and Yanjie Su and Hernando Taborda‐Osorio and Tan, \{Alvin W. M.\} and Denis Tatone and Teresa Taylor‐Partridge and Tsang, \{Chiu Kin Adrian\} and Arkadiusz Urbanek and Florina Uzefovsky and Ingmar Visser and Wertz, \{Annie E.\} and Madison Williams and Kristina Wolsey and Wong, \{Terry Tin‐Yau\} and Woodward, \{Amanda M.\} and Yang Wu and Zhen Zeng and Lucie Zimmer and Hamlin, \{J. Kiley\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 John Wiley \& Sons Ltd.",

year = "2025",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1111/desc.13581",

language = "English",

volume = "28",

journal = "Developmental Science",

issn = "1363-755X",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",

number = "1",

}

Lucca, K, Yuen, F, Wang, Y, Alessandroni, N, Allison, O, Alvarez, M, Axelsson, EL, Baumer, J, Baumgartner, HA, Bertels, J, Bhavsar, M, Byers‐Heinlein, K, Capelier‐Mourguy, A, Chijiiwa, H, Chin, CSS, Christner, N, Cirelli, LK, Corbit, J, Daum, MM, Doan, T, Dresel, M, Exner, A, Fei, W, Forbes, SH, Franchin, L, Frank, MC, Geraci, A, Giraud, M, Gornik, ME, Wiesmann, CG, Grossmann, T, Hadley, IM, Havron, N, Henderson, AME, Matzner, EH, Immel, BA, Jankiewicz, G, Jędryczka, W, Kanakogi, Y, Kominsky, JF, Lew‐Williams, C, Liberman, Z, Liu, L, Liu, Y, Loeffler, MT, Martin, A, Mayor, J, Meng, X, Misiak, M, Moreau, D, Nencheva, ML, Oña, LS, Otálora, Y, Paulus, M, Pepe, B, Pickron, CB, Powell, LJ, Proft, M, Quinn, AA, Rakoczy, H, Reschke, PJ, Roth‐Hanania, R, Rothmaler, K, Schlegelmilch, K, Schlingloff‐Nemecz, L, Schmuckler, MA, Schuwerk, T, Seehagen, S, Şen, HH, Shainy, MR, Silvestri, V, Soderstrom, M, Sommerville, J, Song, H, Sorokowski, P, Stutz, SE, Su, Y, Taborda‐Osorio, H, Tan, AWM, Tatone, D, Taylor‐Partridge, T, Tsang, CKA, Urbanek, A, Uzefovsky, F, Visser, I, Wertz, AE, Williams, M, Wolsey, K, Wong, TTY, Woodward, AM, Wu, Y, Zeng, Z, Zimmer, L & Hamlin, JK 2025, 'Infants’ Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large‐Scale, Multi‐Lab, Coordinated Replication Study', Developmental Science, vol. 28, no. 1, e13581. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13581

TY - JOUR

T1 - Infants’ Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large‐Scale, Multi‐Lab, Coordinated Replication Study

AU - Lucca, Kelsey

AU - Yuen, Francis

AU - Wang, Yiyi

AU - Alessandroni, Nicolás

AU - Allison, Olivia

AU - Alvarez, Mario

AU - Axelsson, Emma L.

AU - Baumer, Janina

AU - Baumgartner, Heidi A.

AU - Bertels, Julie

AU - Bhavsar, Mitali

AU - Byers‐Heinlein, Krista

AU - Capelier‐Mourguy, Arthur

AU - Chijiiwa, Hitomi

AU - Chin, Chantelle S.‐S.

AU - Christner, Natalie

AU - Cirelli, Laura K.

AU - Corbit, John

AU - Daum, Moritz M.

AU - Doan, Tiffany

AU - Dresel, Michaela

AU - Exner, Anna

AU - Fei, Wenxi

AU - Forbes, Samuel H.

AU - Franchin, Laura

AU - Frank, Michael C.

AU - Geraci, Alessandra

AU - Giraud, Michelle

AU - Gornik, Megan E.

AU - Wiesmann, Charlotte Grosse

AU - Grossmann, Tobias

AU - Hadley, Isabelle M.

AU - Havron, Naomi

AU - Henderson, Annette M. E.

AU - Matzner, Emmy Higgs

AU - Immel, Bailey A.

AU - Jankiewicz, Grzegorz

AU - Jędryczka, Wiktoria

AU - Kanakogi, Yasuhiro

AU - Kominsky, Jonathan F.

AU - Lew‐Williams, Casey

AU - Liberman, Zoe

AU - Liu, Liquan

AU - Liu, Yilin

AU - Loeffler, Miriam T.

AU - Martin, Alia

AU - Mayor, Julien

AU - Meng, Xianwei

AU - Misiak, Michal

AU - Moreau, David

AU - Nencheva, Mira L.

AU - Oña, Linda S.

AU - Otálora, Yenny

AU - Paulus, Markus

AU - Pepe, Bill

AU - Pickron, Charisse B.

AU - Powell, Lindsey J.

AU - Proft, Marina

AU - Quinn, Alyssa A.

AU - Rakoczy, Hannes

AU - Reschke, Peter J.

AU - Roth‐Hanania, Ronit

AU - Rothmaler, Katrin

AU - Schlegelmilch, Karola

AU - Schlingloff‐Nemecz, Laura

AU - Schmuckler, Mark A.

AU - Schuwerk, Tobias

AU - Seehagen, Sabine

AU - Şen, Hilal H.

AU - Shainy, Munna R.

AU - Silvestri, Valentina

AU - Soderstrom, Melanie

AU - Sommerville, Jessica

AU - Song, Hyun‐joo

AU - Sorokowski, Piotr

AU - Stutz, Sandro E.

AU - Su, Yanjie

AU - Taborda‐Osorio, Hernando

AU - Tan, Alvin W. M.

AU - Tatone, Denis

AU - Taylor‐Partridge, Teresa

AU - Tsang, Chiu Kin Adrian

AU - Urbanek, Arkadiusz

AU - Uzefovsky, Florina

AU - Visser, Ingmar

AU - Wertz, Annie E.

AU - Williams, Madison

AU - Wolsey, Kristina

AU - Wong, Terry Tin‐Yau

AU - Woodward, Amanda M.

AU - Wu, Yang

AU - Zeng, Zhen

AU - Zimmer, Lucie

AU - Hamlin, J. Kiley

PY - 2025/1

Y1 - 2025/1

N2 - Evaluating whether someone's behavior is praiseworthy or blameworthy is a fundamental human trait. A seminal study by Hamlin and colleagues in 2007 suggested that the ability to form social evaluations based on third-party interactions emerges within the first year of life: infants preferred a character who helped, over hindered, another who tried but failed to climb a hill. This sparked a new line of inquiry into the origins of social evaluations; however, replication attempts have yielded mixed results. We present a preregistered, multi-laboratory, standardized study aimed at replicating infants’ preference for Helpers over Hinderers. We intended to (1) provide a precise estimate of the effect size of infants’ preference for Helpers over Hinderers, and (2) determine the degree to which preferences are based on social information. Using the ManyBabies framework for big team-based science, we tested 1018 infants (567 included, 5.5–10.5 months) from 37 labs across five continents. Overall, 49.34% of infants preferred Helpers over Hinderers in the social condition, and 55.85% preferred characters who pushed up, versus down, an inanimate object in the nonsocial condition; neither proportion differed from chance or from each other. This study provides evidence against infants’ prosocial preferences in the hill paradigm, suggesting the effect size is weaker, absent, and/or develops later than previously estimated. As the first of its kind, this study serves as a proof-of-concept for using active behavioral measures (e.g., manual choice) in large-scale, multi-lab projects studying infants.

AB - Evaluating whether someone's behavior is praiseworthy or blameworthy is a fundamental human trait. A seminal study by Hamlin and colleagues in 2007 suggested that the ability to form social evaluations based on third-party interactions emerges within the first year of life: infants preferred a character who helped, over hindered, another who tried but failed to climb a hill. This sparked a new line of inquiry into the origins of social evaluations; however, replication attempts have yielded mixed results. We present a preregistered, multi-laboratory, standardized study aimed at replicating infants’ preference for Helpers over Hinderers. We intended to (1) provide a precise estimate of the effect size of infants’ preference for Helpers over Hinderers, and (2) determine the degree to which preferences are based on social information. Using the ManyBabies framework for big team-based science, we tested 1018 infants (567 included, 5.5–10.5 months) from 37 labs across five continents. Overall, 49.34% of infants preferred Helpers over Hinderers in the social condition, and 55.85% preferred characters who pushed up, versus down, an inanimate object in the nonsocial condition; neither proportion differed from chance or from each other. This study provides evidence against infants’ prosocial preferences in the hill paradigm, suggesting the effect size is weaker, absent, and/or develops later than previously estimated. As the first of its kind, this study serves as a proof-of-concept for using active behavioral measures (e.g., manual choice) in large-scale, multi-lab projects studying infants.

KW - experimental methods

KW - infancy

KW - moral development

KW - reproducibility

KW - social cognition

KW - social development

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85210474573&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/desc.13581

DO - 10.1111/desc.13581

M3 - Article

SN - 1363-755X

VL - 28

JO - Developmental Science

JF - Developmental Science

IS - 1

M1 - e13581

ER -

Infants’ Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large‐Scale, Multi‐Lab, Coordinated Replication Study

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