Can an army of babies and dogs rescue psychology from its reproducibility crisis?

In a Netflix documentary, a puppet show demonstrates a 2007 study where babies prefer helpful characters over unkind ones. Developmental psychologist Kiley Hamlin concluded that babies can evaluate behavior before they can speak, suggesting a biological basis. However, many researchers struggled to replicate these findings, leading to confusion. To address this, Hamlin organized a large-scale study with over 1,000 babies across 18 countries. This effort was part of a broader movement in psychology to tackle the replication crisis, where many studies couldn’t be reproduced. Scientists believe that increasing sample sizes and international collaboration can improve research reliability. Despite logistical challenges, these large projects aim to provide more rigorous results, impacting how we understand human and animal cognition. QUESTION: How might the ability to evaluate others’ behavior before speaking influence how we interact with others as we grow up?