Cognitive Development in Infancy
- + 44 (0)1865 271384
- babylab@psy.ox.ac.uk
- https://learningwords2by2.wordpress.com/
- Cognition & Information Processing
- Infant Development (6 months - 3 years)
- Language & Literacy
Founded in 1992
Dedicated facilities for infant research
Over 7500 infant participants
Prof. Kim Plunkett
Register Your Interest in the BabyLab
We study how infants learn to extract meaning from speech: How they learn to recognise words, learn new words and concepts, and identify how to use words to talk about and represent the world. Our studies involve age groups ranging from 6 months to 3 years. The Oxford University BabyLab was established in 1992, and is part of the Oxford Centre for Developmental Science. If you would like to register your interest in the BabyLab, click here.
Explore the babylab facilities
One of the first research facilities in the UK dedicated to infant research, we have recently moved to a new space, designed specifically to contain two state-of-the art remote eye trackers and our EEG system. Visit our reception and playrooms, or find out where we are.
investigate your child's vocabulary
Since 1998, we have collected vocabulary information from parents of more than 5000 infants who participated in BabyLab studies. This first large-scale investigation into infants’ vocabulary development in the UK is currently the basis for several projects investigating the structure and dynamics of the infant lexicon, as well as predicting later literacy skills. Take a look at the Oxford CDI Tool and evaluate your own child's vocabulary development.
Social media
Our team
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Kim Plunkett
Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Science
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Karla Holmboe
Visiting MRC Career Development Fellow
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Alexandra Hendry
Associate Professor of Experimental Psychology
Recent Research Grants
Infant Predictors of Learning to Read
Nuffield Foundation (2012-15)
BabyLab Downloads
Oxford CDI
185 KB, PDF document
SNORI
13 MB, PDF document
Current Research Grants
Infant Bilingual Lexicon
ESRC (2013-16)
Language and Infant Category Learning
NSF (2013-17)
The Ontogeny of Physical Intelligence
Fyssen Foundation (2013-15)
Your Visit to the BabyLab
Associated Research
We collaborate with and receive visitors from all over the world. Active and forthcoming collaborators are:
Overseas collaborations
Vladimir Sloutsky at Ohio State University on an NSF funded project to investigate the impact of language on infant categorisations.
Julien Mayor at University of Geneva on a Swiss Research Foundation funded project conducting statistical modelling of CDIs and neural network modelling of learning word recognition and learning.
UK Collaborations
Caroline Floccia at the University of Plymouth on an ESRC funded project investigating the structure of the mental lexicon in infant bilinguals.
Kate Nation at Oxford University on the Nuffield Foundation Learning to Read Project evaluating whether the Oxford CDIs can be used to predict later literacy skills.