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Alice Skelton

@aliceeskelton.bsky.social

Lecturer in Developmental Psychology, University of Sussex Co-Lead Sussex Baby Lab Currently working on visual diet (head cams), simulations of baby vision, cognition after nature/urban scene exposure, development of aesthetic preference & biophilia

112 Followers  |  176 Following  |  5 Posts  |  Joined: 27.09.2023  |  1.3975

Latest posts by aliceeskelton.bsky.social on Bluesky

We'd love to talk to more museums and galleries about how babies experience your exhibits, so get in touch (obviously I am keen to try to get @themerl.bsky.social on board 🐑👀👶)

22.03.2025 22:09 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Top to bottom images are: Sunflowers by Gertrude Fawcett; The Sketching Party by Gerald Edward Moira; Cup by Henry Willett; BioKam by Alfred Darling; Girl and a Birdcage by William Scott; Photographic Print; Jug by Wedgewood, all at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. From these heatmaps we can see what captures babies’ gaze. For example, we can see that babies look longest at high contrast areas (centre of sunflowers, the lens on the camera, the neckline of the female figure, the edge of windows and lettering in the photo); colourful areas (the red figure by the lake, the colourful top and blue background in Girl and a Birdcage); gloss (the table reflecting BioKam); curves (the round lens of BioKam, the outline of the sunflowers, the curved signage in the photo, and the handles of the jugs); and faces (even when they are not human as with the dog Jug). Baby eye-movement heat maps provided by The Sussex Baby Lab

Top to bottom images are: Sunflowers by Gertrude Fawcett; The Sketching Party by Gerald Edward Moira; Cup by Henry Willett; BioKam by Alfred Darling; Girl and a Birdcage by William Scott; Photographic Print; Jug by Wedgewood, all at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. From these heatmaps we can see what captures babies’ gaze. For example, we can see that babies look longest at high contrast areas (centre of sunflowers, the lens on the camera, the neckline of the female figure, the edge of windows and lettering in the photo); colourful areas (the red figure by the lake, the colourful top and blue background in Girl and a Birdcage); gloss (the table reflecting BioKam); curves (the round lens of BioKam, the outline of the sunflowers, the curved signage in the photo, and the handles of the jugs); and faces (even when they are not human as with the dog Jug). Baby eye-movement heat maps provided by The Sussex Baby Lab

And here are some very fun heat maps of what babies like to look at in exhibits and paintings, nicely showing baby preferences for things like roundness & contour, shiny bits, high colour and luminance contrast, and faces.

22.03.2025 22:09 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
Seeing a museum from the baby point of view. Images collected by Sussex Baby Lab, recorded with cameras mounted on babies’ heads whilst visiting Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. Top row: Uniquely baby view points: How babies see the gallery will depend on their mode of transport. Babies in a sling will see the world from a similar point of view as their caregivers, while babies who are walking or in prams will spend a lot of time on the floor or seeing the world from a lower point of view. Other things might be vying for babies attention when they’re in the space! Middle row: babies’ attention will be captured by unintentional things like the architecture of the building, bright lights, and non exhibit objects (e.g. the fan which is curved and shiny – doubly exciting!). Moving between exhibits or galleries often means being in corridors – to keep babies engaged, providing something visually interesting for them to look at while they are transitioning between spaces is helpful. Bottom row: exhibits provide lots of opportunities for sharing a moment with their caregiver, especially when their caregiver is interacting in some way with an exhibit. Babies will seek out, look, and interact with the exhibits at museums, and they give lots of opportunity for them to practice their developing visual skills.

Seeing a museum from the baby point of view. Images collected by Sussex Baby Lab, recorded with cameras mounted on babies’ heads whilst visiting Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. Top row: Uniquely baby view points: How babies see the gallery will depend on their mode of transport. Babies in a sling will see the world from a similar point of view as their caregivers, while babies who are walking or in prams will spend a lot of time on the floor or seeing the world from a lower point of view. Other things might be vying for babies attention when they’re in the space! Middle row: babies’ attention will be captured by unintentional things like the architecture of the building, bright lights, and non exhibit objects (e.g. the fan which is curved and shiny – doubly exciting!). Moving between exhibits or galleries often means being in corridors – to keep babies engaged, providing something visually interesting for them to look at while they are transitioning between spaces is helpful. Bottom row: exhibits provide lots of opportunities for sharing a moment with their caregiver, especially when their caregiver is interacting in some way with an exhibit. Babies will seek out, look, and interact with the exhibits at museums, and they give lots of opportunity for them to practice their developing visual skills.

Our Babies in Museums resource, created with Kids in Museums, is now available! It explores how babies see & think in museums & ways of making spaces welcoming for them & their caregivers. Here are some shots from our baby head cam visitors to Brighton Museum kidsinmuseums.org.uk/resources/ba...

22.03.2025 22:09 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0

(last year at this point in the term we had 114 responses, this year we're at 24 - so help and good vibes are much appreciated!)

25.02.2025 17:31 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Some of my great UG dissertation students are collecting data on what impacts infant sleep. We usually rely on fb ads for recruitment, but it's been a little...quiet... out there! Please ask any babies you know 0-12 months to share this questionnaire with their caregivers tinyurl.com/babysnooze25

25.02.2025 17:31 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Post-doc position available from Sept 2025 for 18 months on a @leverhulme.bsky.social project into children's perceptual decision-making using diffusion models. Closes 10th March. Pls share! edzz.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid... #VisionScience #PsychSciSky

24.02.2025 12:59 — 👍 9    🔁 17    💬 0    📌 1
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Gene therapy in children with AIPL1-associated severe retinal dystrophy: an open-label, first-in-human interventional study Our findings indicate that young children with AIPL1-related retinal dystrophy benefited substantially from subretinal administration of rAAV8.hRKp.AIPL1, with improved visual acuity and functional vi...

Thrilled to see this monumental work in @thelancet.bsky.social! A single subretinal injection led to staggering improvements in nearly blind children, while behavioural and EEG data from our lab reveal a dramatic boost in function and cortex activity. A major leap for vision restoration! t.ly/fvdQy

21.02.2025 11:25 — 👍 22    🔁 13    💬 1    📌 2

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