Βι¶ΉΣ³»­

The Βι¶ΉΣ³»­ Baby Lab

Baby playing with coloured rings

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Sharing the findings

Research findings

Our aim is that our research will have a positive impact on the lives of babies and their families.  We work closely with companies, organisations and charities, applying our findings to real-world challenges.  Specifically, we aim to inform the design of products, books, drama and art for babies so that it is optimised for how they see, think and learn.  We also aim to improve how babies experience and access the arts and heritage. See below for some of our applied collaborations.

Baby product design

Etta Loves logoThe Βι¶ΉΣ³»­ Baby Lab has had scientific partnerships with companies such as Cosatto Ltd and , feeding our research findings on infant perception into their product design. For example, we conducted studies on infant pattern perception to inform Etta Loves’ designs, including a design by the artist Camille Walala.

Etta Loves Dalmation play mat 2Etta Loves Leopard BabyEtta Loves Eyes Muslin Caregiver Child

Baby books

Βι¶ΉΣ³»­ Baby Lab research on how babies see colour, detail and shape has informed the design of baby books, including ‘ published by Child’s Play. Look, Touch, Learn: Sky was chosen as a Scottish Book Trust Book Bug book and as part of that scheme was given out to all babies born in Scotland in 2024/2025. Prof Franklin from the Βι¶ΉΣ³»­ Baby Lab has also authored her which are designed to tap various visual skills which emerge in the first year of life. The Βι¶ΉΣ³»­ Baby Lab have written and given for Book Trust and Scottish Book Trust on how to choose books for babies given their immature vision.

Baby drama

Βι¶ΉΣ³»­ Baby Lab research has informed the design of three professional drama shows for babies:  by Daniel Nadaffy and Marty Langthorne, which recently showed at the Barbican; by Filskit Theatre; and the award winning by Flying Eye which toured internationally.

Babies in museums

A painting of yellow sunflowers in a vase on a blue background with a heatmap on the top part of the painting.Βι¶ΉΣ³»­ Baby Lab research finds that certain art and visual exhibits draws the eye of babies. We are currently investigating how babies can benefit from visits to museums and galleries, and are conducting research at the Fitzwilliam Museum and Brighton and Hove Museums with babies. With funding from an Arts and Humanities Research Council Impact Acceleration grant, we have developed a with the charity Kids in Museums to help museums and galleries welcome and provide for babies.

Baby sensory

Βι¶ΉΣ³»­ Baby Lab findings on infant vision and image perception have informed the development of baby sensory flash cards for the educational online publisher . Our research also fed into the development of a baby sensory film by Etta Loves which has over 100K views on YouTube.

Support for colour vision divergent children

colourspot logo Colour vision divergence (colour blindness) affects around one child in every classroom. However, children are no longer routinely tested for the condition in schools. We have developed and evaluated an child-friendly app, ColourSpot, which accurately tests for the condition in children as young as 4 and which provides guidance for teachers and parents on how to support the child. We are currently obtaining regulatory approval for the app so it can be used by parents, teachers and opticians. Our research has also identified that the design of many educational materials put children who are colour vision divergent at a disadvantage and we are working with educational publishers to help them adopt inclusive design.

British Science Festival Baby Art Gallery

In collaboration with the British Science Festival 2017, the Βι¶ΉΣ³»­ Baby Lab curated a Baby Art Gallery combining art and science. Using eye-tracking, we recorded baby's eye movements when shown different artworks. We formulated this on a heatmap which was superimposed on top of the original art to show what babies were interested in looking at. 

For those who missed the Baby Art Gallery, we have made a highlight video of the event.  

A special report about our event was also reported on BBC News. Check out the video below.
Scientific Publications
2025

McAdams, P., Svobodova, S., Newman, T. J., Terry, K., Mather, G., Skelton, A. E., & Franklin, A. (2025). The edge orientation entropy of natural scenes is associated with infant visual preferences and adult aesthetic judgements. PloS one, 20(2), e0316555.

2023

McAdams, P., Chambers, M., Bosten, J. M., Skelton, A. E., & Franklin, A. (2023). Chromatic and spatial image statistics predict infants’ visual preferences and adults’ aesthetic preferences for art. Journal of Vision, 23(8), 2-2.

Skelton, A. E., Franklin, A., & Bosten, J. M. (2023). Colour vision is aligned with natural scene statistics at 4 months of age. Developmental Science, 26(6), e13402.

Maule, J., Skelton, A. E., & Franklin, A. (2023). The development of color perception and cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 74(1), 87-111.

2022

Tang, T., Álvaro, L., Alvarez, J., Maule, J., Skelton, A., Franklin, A., & Bosten, J. (2022). ColourSpot, a novel gamified tablet-based test for accurate diagnosis of color vision deficiency in young children. Behavior Research Methods, 54(3), 1148-1160.

Bosten, J. M., Coen-Cagli, R., Franklin, A., Solomon, S. G., & Webster, M. A. (2022). Calibrating vision: Concepts and questions. Vision research, 201, 108131.

Skelton, A. E., Maule, J., & Franklin, A. (2022). Infant color perception: Insight into perceptual development. Child development perspectives, 16(2), 90-95.

2021

Witzel, C., Flack, Z., Sanchez-Walker, E., & Franklin, A. (2021). Colour category constancy and the development of colour naming. Vision Research, 187, 41-54.

2020

Rogers, M., Witzel, C., Rhodes, P., Franklin, A. (2020). Color constancy and color term knowledge are positively related during early childhood, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 196, 104825, 

Ludlow, A., Giannadou, A., Franklin, A., Allen, P., Simmons, D., Wilkins, A. (2020). The possible use of precision tinted lenses to improve social cognition in children with autism spectrum disorders. Vision Research. 170, 53-59. 

Skelton, A. & Franklin, A. (2020). Infants look longer at colours that adults like when colours are highly saturated, Psychonomic bulletin & review,  27, 78-85.  

Rogers, M. R., Witzel, C., Rhodes, P., & Franklin, A. (2020). Color constancy and color term knowledge are positively related during early childhood. Journal of experimental child psychology, 196, 104825.

Skelton, A. E., & Franklin, A. (2020). Infants look longer at colours that adults like when colours are highly saturated. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 27(1), 78-85.

Ludlow, A. K., Giannadou, A., Franklin, A., Allen, P. M., Simmons, D. R., & Wilkins, A. J. (2020). The possible use of precision tinted lenses to improve social cognition in children with autism spectrum disorders. Vision Research, 170, 53-59.

2019

 Maule, J. & Franklin, A. (2019). Color categorization in infants. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 30, 163-168. 

 Bosten, J., Alvaro, L., Alvarez, J., Meyer, B., Tang, T., Maule, J. & Franklin, A. (2019). Tablet-based app for screening CVD in young children. Journal of Vision, 19(8), 71. 

2018

Cong, Y. Q., Junge, C., Aktar, E., Raijmakers, M., Franklin, A. & Sauter, D. (2018). Pre-verbal infants perceive emotional facial expressions categorically. Cognition and Emotion, 1-13. doi:

Maule, J., Stanworth, K., Pellicano, E. & Franklin, A. (2018). Color afterimages in autistic adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 48(4), 1409-1421. doi:

2017

Rothen, N., Bartl, G., Franklin, A., & Ward, J. (2017). Electrophysiological correlates and psychoacoustic characteristics of hearing-motion synaesthesia. Neuropsychologia, 106, 280-288. doi:

Forder, L., Xun, H. & Franklin, A. (2017). Colour categories are reflected in sensory stages of colour perception when stimulus issues are resolved. PLoS ONE, 12(5). e0178097. doi:

Skelton, A.E., Catchpole, G., Abbott, J.T., Bosten, J.M. & Franklin, A. (2017). Biological origins of color categorization. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(21), 5545-5550. doi:

Maule, J., Stanworth, K., Pellicano, E. & Franklin, A. (2017). Ensemble perception of colour in autistic adults. Autism Research, 10(5), 839-851. doi:

Forder, L., Bosten, J., He, X. & Franklin, A. (2017). A neural signature of the unique hues. Scientific Reports, 7. a42364. doi:

2016

Forder, L., Taylor, O., Mankin, H., Scott, R.B. & Franklin, A. (2016). Colour terms affect detection of colour and colour-associated objects suppressed from visual awareness. PLoS ONE, 11(3). e0152212. doi:

Rogers, M., Knoblauch, K. & Franklin, A. (2016). Maximum likelihood conjoint measurement of lightness and chroma. Journal of the Optical Society of America, A, 33(3), A184-A193. doi:

Maule, J. & Franklin, A. (2016). Accurate rapid averaging of multihue ensembles is due to a limited capacity sub-sampling mechanism.  Journal of the Optical Society of America, A, 33(3), A22-A29. doi:

Brooker, A. & Franklin, A. (2016). The effect of colour on children's cognitive performance. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(2), 241-255. doi:

2015

Álvaro, L., Moreira, H., Lillo, J. & Franklin, A. (2015). Color preference in red-green dichromats.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(30), 9316-9321. doi:

Maule, J. & Franklin, A. (2015).  Effects of ensemble complexity and perceptual similarity on rapid averaging of hue. Journal of Vision, 15(6). doi:

Wright, O., Davies, I.R.L. & Franklin, A. (2015). Whorfian effects on colour memory are not reliable. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 68(4), 745-758. doi:

Elliot, A.J., Fairchild, M.D. & Franklin, A. (2015). Handbook of color psychology. Cambridge University Press.

Franklin, A. (2015). The development of color categorization. In Elliot, A.J., Fairchild, M.D & Franklin, A. (Eds.) Handbook of color psychology.  Cambridge University Press, in press.

2014

Bird, C., Berens, S., Horner, A. & Franklin, A. (2014). Categorical encoding of color in the brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(12), 4590-4595. doi:

Witzel, C. & Franklin, A. (2014). Do focal colors look particularly colorful? Journal of the Optical Society of America, 31(4), A365-A374. doi:

Xun, H., Witzel, C., Forder, L., Clifford, A. & Franklin, A. (2014.) Color categories only affect post-perceptual processes when same- and different-category colors are equally discriminable. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 31(4), A322-A331. doi:

Maule, J., Witzel C. & Franklin, A. (2014). Getting the gist of multiple hues: metric and categorical effects on ensemble perception of hue. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 31(4), A93-A102. doi:

Ludlow, A., Heaton, P., Hill, E. & Franklin, A. (2014). Colour obsessions and phobias in Autism Spectrum Disorders: the case of J.G. Neurocase, 20(3), 296-306. doi:

Franklin, A., Skelton, A. & Catchpole, G. (2014). The case for infant colour categories. Carole Biggam et al. (Eds). Progress in Colour Studies. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Franklin, A. (2014). Infant hue categories. Chapter in: Ronier Luo (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology. Springer.

2013

Bannisy, M.J., Tester, V., Muggleton, N.G., Janik, A.B., Davenport, A., Franklin, A., Walsh, V. & Ward, J. (2013). Synesthesia for color is linked to improved color perception, but reduced motion perception. Psychological Science, 24(12), 2390-2397. doi: 

Taylor, C., Clifford, A. & Franklin, A. (2013). Color preferences are not universal. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(4), 1015-1027. doi: 

Farran, E.K., Cranwell, M.K., Alvarez, J. & Franklin, A. (2013). Colour discrimination and categorisation in Williams syndrome. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34(10), 3352-3360. doi:

Taylor, C., Schloss, K., Palmer, S. & Franklin, A. (2013). Color preferences in infants and adults are different. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 20(5), 916-922. doi:10.3758/s13423-013-0411-6

2012

Clifford, A., Franklin, A., Holmes, A., Drivonikou, G.V., Ozgen, E., & Davies, I.R.L. (2012). Neural correlates of acquired color category effects. Brain and Cognition, 80, 126-143. doi:

Taylor, C. & Franklin, A. (2012). The relationship between color-object associations and color preference: Further investigation of Ecological Valence Theory. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 19(2), 190-197. doi:

Franklin, A., Gibbons, E., Chittenden, K, Alvarez, J. & Taylor, C. (2012). Infant color preference for red is not selectively context specific. Emotion, 12(5), 1155-1160. doi:

2011

Franklin, A. & Sowden, P. (2011). Colour in Autism Spectrum Disorders. In Biggam, Carole P., Hough, Carole, Kay, Christian & Simmons, David R.C. (Eds.), New Directions in Colour Studies. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, NL.

Drivonikou, G.V., Clifford, A., Franklin, A. & Davies, I.R.L. (2011). Category training affects colour discrimination but only in the right visual field. In Biggam et al. (Eds.), New Directions in Colour Studies. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, NL.

Clifford, A., Franklin, A., Holmes, A. & Davies, I.R.L. (2011). Investigating the underlying mechanisms of categorical perception of colour using the Event-Related Potential technique. In Biggam et al. (Eds.), New Directions in Colour Studies. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, NL.

2010

Clifford, A., Holmes, A., Davies, I.R.L. & Franklin, A. (2010). Color categories affect pre-attentive color perception. Biological Psychology, 85(2), 275-282. doi:

Franklin, A., Catherwood, D., Alvarez, J. & Axelsson, E. (2010). Hemispheric asymmetries in categorical perception of orientation in infants and adults. Neuropsychologia, 48(9), 2648-57. doi:

Franklin, A., Sowden, P., Notman, L., Gonzales-Dixon, M., West, D., Alexander, I., Loveday, S. & White, A. (2010). Reduced chromatic discrimination in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Developmental Science, 13, 188-200. doi:

Franklin, A., Bevis, L., Ling, Y. & Hurlbert, A. (2010). Biological components of infant colour preference. Developmental Science, 13(2), 346-354. doi:

2009

Franklin, A. (2009). Pre-linguistic categorical perception of colour cannot be explained by colour preference: response to Roberson and Hanley. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(12), 501-502. doi:

Clifford, A., Franklin, A., Davies, I.R.L. & Holmes, A. (2009). Electrophysiological markers of categorical perception of color in 7-month old infants. Brain and Cognition, 71(2), 165-172. doi:

Holmes, A., Franklin, A., Clifford, A. & Davies, I.R.L. (2009). Neurophysiological evidence for categorical perception of colour. Brain and Cognition, 69(2), 426-434. doi:

Franklin, A., Wright, O. & Davies, I.R.L. (2009). What can we learn from toddlers about categorical perception of colour? Comments on Goldstein, Davidoff, and Roberson. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 102(2), 239-245. doi:

Overview of Franklin, Drivonikou, Clifford et al. in ‘Editor’s Choice’ section of Science: Chin, G. (2009). ‘Reading from left to right.’ Science, 322, 1610.

2008

Franklin, A., Drivonikou, G.V., Clifford, A., Kay, P., Regier, T. & Davies, I.R.L. (2008). Lateralization of categorical perception of color changes with color term acquisition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 105(47), 18221-18225. doi:

Franklin, A., Sowden, P., Burley, R., Notman, L. & Alder, E. (2008). Colour perception in children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(10), 1837-47. doi:

Franklin, A., Pitchford, N.J.P., Mahony, L., Davies, I.R.L., Clausse, S. & Jennings, S. (2008). Salience of primary and secondary colours in infancy. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 26(4), 471-483. doi:

Franklin, A., Drivonikou, G.V., Bevis, L., Davies, I.R.L., Kay, P. & Regier, T. (2008). Categorical perception of color is lateralized to the right hemisphere in infants, but to the left hemisphere in adults. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 105(9), 3221-3225. doi:

2007 and pre-2006

Drivonikou, G.V., Kay, P., Regier, T., Ivry, R., Gilbert, A., Franklin, A. & Davies, I.R.L. (2007). Further evidence of Whorfian effects to the right visual field. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 104(3), 1097-1102. doi:

Franklin, A., & Davies, I.R.L. (2006). Converging evidence for pre-linguistic colour categorisation. In C.P Biggam & N. Pitchford (Eds.), Progress in Colour Studies: Psychological Aspects (pp. 101-120). John Benjamins: Amsterdam, NL.

Franklin, A., (2006). Constraints on children’s colour term acquisition. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 94(4), 322-327. doi:

Daoutis, C., Franklin, A., Riddett, A., Clifford, C. & Davies, I.R.L. (2006). Categorical effects in children’s colour search: a cross-linguistic comparison. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24(2), 373-400. doi:

Franklin, A., Pilling, M. & Davies, I.R.L. (2005). The nature of infant colour categorisation: Evidence from eye-movements on a target detection task. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 91(3), 227-248. doi:

Franklin, A., Clifford, A., Williamson, E. & Davies, I.R.L. (2005). Colour term knowledge does not affect categorical perception of colour in toddlers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 90(2), 114-141. doi:

Franklin, A. & Davies, I.R.L. (2004). New evidence for infant colour categories. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 22(3), 349-377. doi:

Davies, I.R.L. & Franklin, A. (2002). Categorical similarity may affect colour pop-out in infants after-all. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 20(2), 185-203. doi:

Media
  • The Times,  , March 2025
  • The Daily Telegraph, , March 2025
  • BBC Βι¶ΉΣ³»­, , March 2025
  • The Guardian, , August 2023
  • The Guardian, , August 2023
  • Wall Street Journal, , May 2021
  • The Telegraph, , October 2021
  • The Times Educational Supplement, , September 2021
  • Scientific American, , 12 Jul 2017
  • IFL Science, , 9 May 2017
  • Medical XPress, , 9 May 2017
  • ZME Science, , 9 May 2017
  • Axios, , 9 May 2017
  • The Guardian, , 8 May 2017
  • Live Science,, 8 May 2017
  • Vozpopuli,, 8 May 2017
  • ScienceMag, , 8 May 2017
  • The Guardian,, 11 Apr 2017
  • The Guardian,Science Weekly Podcast, , 1 Apr 2017
  • ITV News,  15 Feb 2017
  • Horizon2020, , 15 Nov 2016 
  • The British Psychological Society, , 20 Jun 2016
  • Nautilus, , 30 Jul 2015
  • The Guardian, , 27 Feb 2015
  • ScienceNews, , 4 Mar 2014
  • BBC World, , 19 Nov 2012


Photo credits – Header image, , Etta Loves logo and baby images, , Sunflowers, , Colourspot logo, .

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