How do babies learn better from their caregivers?

Research group: Social Brain Lab
Daily coaching: Paloma Maldonado Rojas
Senior tutor: Valeria Gazzola
Collaboration: BabyBRAIN lab, Baby & Child Research Center, Nijmegen (https://babyandchild.nl/en/)
Start date: Immediately
Duration: Minimum 3 months

Update: apply before 7 June 2026

We have already received a lot of applicants and want to thank everyone for putting in their time and effort. We will reach out to the selected candidates before Wednesday 10 June. That means that, if you do not receive an email from us, you’re application was not selected.

The relationship between an infant and their primary caregiver is essential for healthy brain development. While much is known about how early adversity disrupts development, far less is understood about how everyday caregiver–infant interaction actively shapes the developing brain. This project approaches that question through the lens of learning: how do babies learn more effectively from their mothers, and what drives this effect?

Project Description

This internship is part of a collaboration between the Social Brain Lab (Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam) and the BabyBRAIN lab (Child Research Centre, Nijmegen). In this project we specifically study mother–infant dyads to investigate the mechanisms underlying enhanced infant learning in the context of caregiver–infant interaction.

The project combines a behavioural component — the focus of this internship — with a neurophysiological component examining how maternal sensory cues influence infant brain activity. The behavioural work focuses on how mothers structure the sensory experience of their infants through signals such as touch, movement, voice, timing, eye contact, and proximity — including aspects like the combination of sensory modalities, predictability, contingency, and sensory redundancy — observed during a structured play session in the lab. These behavioural measures will be related to neurophysiological data and infant learning performance as part of the broader project.

The intern will focus on the behavioural component, with possible involvement in data collection depending on their interest.

Activities

The student will:

• Code and analyse behavioural data from mother–infant interaction video recordings
• Contribute to the interpretation of findings in relation to the broader project
• Read and discuss relevant scientific literature
• Attend and participate in lab meetings and journal clubs
• Present project progress and findings

Requirements

We are looking for a motivated student with a genuine interest in how early caregiver–infant interaction shapes infant development.

• Curiosity and motivation to engage with this specific research question are essential
• A background in developmental psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, or a related field is a plus, but not a requirement
• Experience with behavioural coding or data analysis is appreciated but not strictly required