Who is more helpful on average?

For babies aged 10.5 to 11.5 months

This study will take place on a video call, live with a researcher! Clicking on the “Participate Now!” button will send you to an online calendar where you can select a date and time that works for you. Your baby will see videos of puppet shows where a protagonist accidentally drops a ball. One character will sometimes give the ball back, but other times, take the ball away for itself. Another character will instead always give the ball back, or always take the ball away. After the videos, we’ll present your baby with the two characters; we're curious about which one babies may prefer.

Previously, we found that babies prefer reaching for helpful over unhelpful characters when the characters always behave consistently. We're now examining how babies make sense of inconsistent social behavior.

15 minutes (The Study itself)

To thank you for your participation, you will receive an honorary UBC digital degree and a $5.00 Amazon e-gift card (Options: Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, or Amazon.co.uk) for your baby after your online appointment! We would require the presence of both you and your child for the entire duration of the study. You are eligible for the aforementioned compensation if your child meets all the eligibility criteria and have not participated in the study before.