International Congress of Infant Studies

Crying, Cradles, and Cellphones: A Longitudinal Examination of Infant Media Emotion Regulation and Socio‐Emotional Development in Early Infancy Parents use digital media to manage children's emotions—known as media emotion regulation. While research has focused on toddlers/preschoolers, media emotion regulation may begin in early infancy, po....

McDaniel et al. (2026): Prevalence of media emotion regulation (using media to calm infants) ⬆️ from 12% at 2mos to 23% at 5mos. This may initially be a coping response to maternal emotional dysregulation, but may become habitual over time #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Mutual Sensitivity Between Caregivers Predicts Infant Affective State During Video Chat Infancy is an extraordinary period of human development, in which babies turn sensory and environmental information into meaning in the cradle of their caregivers' affective and attentional cues. Bab...

(2/2) @proflaurenmyers.bsky.social @drzosh.bsky.social @geotro.bsky.social #JointAttention #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Mutual Sensitivity Between Caregivers Predicts Infant Affective State During Video Chat Infancy is an extraordinary period of human development, in which babies turn sensory and environmental information into meaning in the cradle of their caregivers' affective and attentional cues. Bab...

(1/2) @ellroche.bsky.social & @dougpiper.bsky.social et al. (2026): parent-grandparent mutual sensitivity linked w/ infant affective states but not likelihood that they would engage in joint attn w/ on-screen grandparent #JointAttention #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Text against a blue and orange background: Accepting Board nominations - Nominate by February 28

LAST DAY for ICIS board nominations. Thank you for your support in providing strong ICIS leadership through your nominations. Self nominations are accepted. Deadline February 28, 2026 #Infantstudies

infantstudies.org/icis-electio...

Travel Awards - The International Congress of Infant Studies

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MAR 2, 2026: ICIS is pleased to fund undergraduate students to travel to #ICIS2026. We welcome applications from student authors whose work has been accepted for presentation and from students interested in learning more about infancy research infantstudies.org/2026-panama-...

⌛Submission deadline is TOMORROW!
Don't miss your chance to compete for the Conference Awards 🏆

✨Attending ICIS? (@infantstudies.bsky.social) Stay for FIT'NG and keep the science and networking going.

🌐 Abstracts: fitng.org/poster-oral-...
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#FITNG2026

Screen Media Exposure and Inhibitory Control: A Longitudinal Study From Infancy to Toddlerhood Inhibitory control, a core executive function, supports children's ability to manage automatic and prepotent responses and regulate behavior. Screen media may disrupt its development by displacing ac....

Uzundağ, Güven, Sıvış & Başpınar (2026): New longitudinal research reports associations between greater screen exposure and inhibitory control skills during infancy and toddlerhood, independent of parental perceptions #EarlyYears #ScreenTime #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Text against a blue and orange background: Accepting Board nominations - Nominate by February 28

Nominate yourself or a peer for the ICIS board elections and be a catalyst for progress in our field. Together, let's build a future that inspires and empowers. Nominations and self nominations are accepted until February 28, 2026. #Infantstudies

infantstudies.org/icis-electio...

Text against a blue and orange background: Accepting Board nominations - Nominate by February 28

Attention ICIS members! Members are invited to participate in the election process by nominating candidates or standing for the upcoming board elections. Deadline for (self)nominations: February 28, 2026 #Infantstudies

infantstudies.org/icis-electio...

Text against a light blue and light orange gradient background: Merit Awards - Distinguished Early Career Contribution, Outstanding Dissertation, Translational Research. Submission deadline: March 26

Nominate the trailblazers of tomorrow! The ICIS early career awards highlight the dedication and excellence of young researchers. Nominate for the Distinguished Early Career Contribution Award and Outstanding Dissertation Award. Close March 26, 2026.

infantstudies.org/merit-awards/

Travel Awards - The International Congress of Infant Studies

ICIS is pleased to fund undergraduate students to travel to #ICIS2026. We welcome applications from student authors whose work has been accepted for presentation and from students interested in learning more about infancy research. Details: infantstudies.org/2026-panama-... Deadline Feb 23, 2026

Text against a blue and orange background: Accepting Board nominations - Nominate by February 28

Nominations for the board elections are open. Seize this opportunity to contribute your expertise and drive positive change within our organization. Nominations and self nominations are accepted until February 28, 2026. #Infantstudies

infantstudies.org/icis-electio...

Impact of Surgical Masks on Newborns' Spontaneous Face Processing Skills At birth, newborns prefer upright faces over other stimuli, indicating that they already pay specific attention to facial internal features, with expectations about their featural configuration. The ....

Bertrand et al. (2026): masked & unmasked static faces attract newborns’ attention w/o disrupting face config processing. But results are restricted to static stimuli; may not generalise to dynamic, multisensory contexts or vulnerable popns #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Text against a light blue background: Merit Awards - Distinguished Early Career Contribution, Outstanding Dissertation, Translational Research. Submission deadline: March 26

Celebrate brilliance in the making! The ICIS Merit Awards recognize the rising stars in our field. Nominate for the Distinguished Early Career Contribution Award, Outstanding Dissertation Award and Translational Research Award. Close March 26, 2026.

infantstudies.org/merit-awards/

Infant Sitting Status, Sitting Age, and Everyday Positioning Experience Across the Transition to Independent Sitting Positioning—the body's physical configuration and relations to supports and restraints—is a fundamental aspect of infants' everyday experiences. How do everyday positioning experiences (the amount of...

Kretch et al. (2025): chronological age and overall sitting age but not hands-free sitting age predicted everyday sitting experience; continuous development of sitting skill changes positioning composition of infants' everyday unrestrained floor time #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Travel Awards - The International Congress of Infant Studies

ICIS is pleased to fund undergraduate students to travel to #ICIS2026. We welcome applications from student authors whose work has been accepted for presentation and from students interested in learning more about infancy research. Details: infantstudies.org/2026-panama-... Deadline Feb 23, 2026

⏳ 3 WEEKS left until the submission deadline!!!

🔗 Abstract submissions: fitng.org/poster-oral-...
🔗 Symposia submissions: fitng.org/symposium-su...

#FITNG2026 #Neuroscience #Neuroimaging #Brain #CallForAbstracts
@fluxsociety.bsky.social @infantstudies.bsky.social @theabcdstudy.bsky.social

Text against a blue and orange background: Accepting Board nominations - Nominate by February 28

The nominations for the ICIS board elections are now open! Shape the future of our organization by nominating yourself or someone you believe in today. Your voice matters. Nomination period close February 28, 2026. #Infantstudies

infantstudies.org/icis-electio...

Mapping Research on Early Ethnic‐Racial Awareness Development Among Infants and Toddlers: A Scoping Review The purpose of this study is to expand understanding of the early stages of the lifespan model of ethnic-racial identity by summarizing and mapping existing research on the development of ethnic-raci...

Eddie et al. (2025) scoping review: infants & toddlers notice differences in race & language. More research needed to explore individual differences & caregiver socialization practices #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Infants' Visual Preference for Upright Faces During the COVID‐19 Pandemic in Japan The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic required face masks to be worn in public spaces, changing daily face-to-face communication. This study investigated whether infants perceived masked f....

Shirai et al. (2025): During COVID in Japan, masked faces provided natural test of face detection under occlusion. Both 4-5 and 7-8mos infants preferred upright > inverted masked faces➡️successful face detection despite extensive mask exposure #EarlyYears #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Parental Values Are Associated With How Parents Feel About Their Infants' Sleep, but Not the Quality of Infants' Sleep Values help shape behavior and influence how individuals assess themselves and others. Previous research on the relation between values and parenting has largely overlooked the impact of values on pa...

Berger et al. (2025) studied parents' value systems on infant sleep: value profiles depended on parent gender & linked w/ cognitions about infant sleep & parents' interactions w/ infants, but not quality of infants' sleep #EarlyYears #Sleep #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Complementary Feeding Approach and Maternal Communicative Functions During Mealtimes in 12‐Month‐Old Infants The literature on alternative approaches to complementary feeding, especially Baby-Led Weaning (a complementary feeding approach in which infants participate in family meals and eat finger food indep...

Di Prete et al. (2025) studied complementary feeding (parent-led vs. baby-led weaning) & maternal communication in 12mos. Both methods foster similar communicative envts, tho parent-led weaning involves more maternal instructional talk #EarlyYears #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Caregiver Holding, Not Vocalizing, Supports Real‐Time Vagal Regulation Caregivers play a critical role in infant physiological regulation. Lab-based studies show that more responsive mothers have infants that are better regulators, indexed by a decrease in infant respir...

Micheletti et al. (2025): new research using home observations & wearable sensors shows that when moms hold their crying babies, both moms & babies show vagal withdrawal. Physical touch, not vocalizing, may be key for regulation in the wild #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Holistic and Analytic Attention in Infancy: A Cross‐Cultural Study in Sweden and Zimbabwe This pre-registered eye-tracking study assesses whether there are differences in infants' attention allocation across diverse cultural contexts while taking several social-environmental factors into ...

Tu et al. (2025) studied 9mo infants in Sweden & Zimbabwe via eye-tracking: attention allocation is diff in these cultures in infancy, but each culture has a unique dynamic attentional style that includes holistic & analytic components #EarlyYears #Attention #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Social Influences on Early Fairness Expectations in Toddlers: Siblings, Peers, and Caregivers This study examined how social factors such as parental mental state language, sibling presence, and preschool attendance influence their expectations of fairness in 18-month-old toddlers. Fifty-four...

Meristo et al. (2025): preschool attendance (but not parents' mental state lang & having siblings) showed ⬆️sensitivity to unfair outcomes => early social interactions w/ peers in preschools impt in devt of toddlers' fairness expectations #EarlyYears #Morality #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Tiny Screens, Big Impact: Effects of Maternal Smartphone Use on Maternal and Infants' Physiological and Behavioral Stress and Interaction Dynamics Smartphones can absorb attention and abruptly interrupt social interactions, a dynamic particularly critical in early parent-infant exchanges where infants rely on emotionally available caregivers fo...

Dinzinger et al. (2025) show how maternal smartphone use affects mother–infant interaction, behavior, and autonomic arousal. Even short periods of phone use disturb interactions and lead to infant distress. #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Image: red and yellow fireworks against a black background, with white and yellow text 'the ICIS team wishes everyone a happy holiday season’.

✨ The ICIS Communications Committee wishes everyone a happy holiday season! ✨ See you in 2026!

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Time to Talk: Variability in Caregiver‐Child Verbal Engagement During Everyday Activities Sampled From Daylong Recordings Children learn language through interactions with others. To document variation in how caregivers engage verbally with their 2-year-old children, we sampled six 10-min segments of dense child-directe...

Bang, @vmarchman.bsky.social et al. (2025): Caregivers talk the most to their toddlers in more activities than just books & play! Daylong recordings reveal ind diffs in child-directed speech across daily activities in Eng- & Spanish-speaking families in the US #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

Deferred Imitation: A 9‐Month Revolution or an Emerging Ability at 6 Months? The ability to engage in deferred imitation is by many scholars considered as one of several social-cognitive abilities that emerge during what has been coined the “9-month revolution”. Meanwhile, ev....

Beyer, Sonne, Kingo, & Krøjgaard (2025): Deferred imitation present at 6 months with different objects but performance increases from 6 to 12 months → extends prior work on early emergence and development of deferred imitation in infancy #EarlyYears #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

A Meta‐Analysis of the Correlation Between Socioeconomic Status and Direct Measures of Young Children's Word Comprehension What can we learn from the empirical body of literature on the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and children's word comprehension? To answer this question, a systematic review was carri....

Scaff, Coffey & Cristia (2025) meta-analysis (N=8,200, 15-46mo): correlation btwn SES & children's word comprehension increased w/ child age; touch-based measures had smaller effects than both looking- and pointing-based measures #EarlyYears #WordLearning #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...