Doctoral fellowship in developmental psychology, on the emotional mechanisms underlying social evaluation in infants. M/F

Job Description

Thesis Subject

Context et objectives
Social evaluation corresponds to the ability to differentiate and evaluate the social behaviour of others. Assessing others' social behaviours is crucial for choosing appropriate social partners and avoiding inappropriate ones that could harm us. Studies have shown that as early as 3 months, infants are able to differentiate between prosocial behaviour (i.e. helping others to achieve a goal) and antisocial behaviour (i.e. preventing others from achieving a goal), and this differentiation would be characterized by a preference for prosocial partners and an aversion to antisocial partners (Hamlin et al., 2007; Holvoet et al., 2016; Scola et al., 2015). Thus, foundations of sociomoral development may be present early in life. While some studies have confirmed this prosocial preference (e.g. Scola et al., 2015), others have found more divergent results (e.g. Schlingloff et al., 2020; Luca et al., 2024). If infants are indeed able to discriminate between prosocial and antisocial behaviour, what processes underlie this ability? It has been suggested that emotional responses may play a role in infants' social evaluation and preferences (e.g. Steckler et al., 2018). A different emotional response to prosocial and antisocial behaviour, and especially negative emotions towards antisocial behaviour, could explain this early preference for prosocial partners. However, measuring the emotional responses of preverbal children can be difficult, and we propose to use thermal imaging as a tool for measuring emotions in a non-invasive and contact-free way (Ioannou et al., 2014). Indeed, thermal cameras capture the naturally infrared radiation emitted from a body in a contactless manner, allowing the non-invasive recording of facial cutaneous temperature. These changes in facial temperature may be linked to changes in emotional state (Ioannou et al., 2014; Goulart et al., 2019). Thus, thermal imaging appears to be a useful tool for measuring changes in infants' emotional states, in relation to their assessment of social behaviour.


The aim of this project is to investigate the emotional mechanisms underlying social evaluation in infants aged 12 to 24 months, using thermal imaging. More specifically, this project aims to determine whether and how emotions are involved in the evaluation of social behaviours, with two objectives:

(1) The first objective will be to analyse whether the emotions felt by infants play a role in their preference for a prosocial partner. To this end, various scenarios illustrating prosocial and antisocial behaviours will be set up and presented to infants, and their emotional responses will be measured. The aim will be to determine whether infants experience different emotions when evaluating prosocial and antisocial behaviours, and the role of these emotions in preferences for prosocial behaviours. The effect of individual and social factors, such as the infants' attachment security, will also be analysed.

(2) The second objective will be to identify the relevant aspects of the scenarios presented to infants that trigger emotions and prosocial preferences. The aim will be to determine whether prosocial and antisocial behaviours alone are sufficient to elicit a prosocial preference and an emotional response in infants, or whether the emotions expressed by the characters who are the recipients or actors of these behaviours also play a decisive role.
The infants' emotional states will be analysed using both physiological and behavioural data. This innovative project will enhance our understanding of the emotional processes involved in early social evaluation.

References
Goulart, C., Valadão, C., Delisle-Rodriguez, D., Caldeira, E., & Bastos, T. (2019). Emotion analysis in children through facial emissivity of infrared thermal imaging. PLoS ONE 14(3), e0212928. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0212928
Hamlin, K. J., Wynn, K., & Bloom, P. (2007). Social evaluation by preverbal infants. Nature, 450, 557-559. doi:10.1038/nature06288
Holvoet, C., Scola, C., Arciszewski, T., & Picard, D. (2016). Infants' preference for prosocial behaviors: A literature review. Infant Behavior and Development, 45, 125-139. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2016.10.008
Ioannou, S., Gallese, V., & Merla, A. (2014). Thermal infrared imaging in psychophysiology: Potentialities and limits. Psychophysiology, 51(10), 951-63. doi: 10.1111/psyp.12243
Lucca, K., et al. (2025). Infants' Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large-Scale, Multi-Lab, Coordinated Replication Study. Developmental Science, 28: e13581. doi :10.1111/desc.13581
Schlingloff, L., Csibra, G., & Tatone, D. (2020). Do 15-month-old infants prefer helpers? A replication of Hamlin et al. (2007). Royal Society Open Science, 7, 191795. doi: 10.1098/rsos.191795
Scola, C., Holvoet, C., Arciszewski, T., & Picard, D. (2015). Further evidence for infants' preference for prosocial over antisocial behaviors. Infancy, 20(6), 684-692. doi: 10.1111/infa.12095
Steckler, C.M., Liberman, Z., Van de Vondervoort, J.W., Slevinsky, J., Le, D.T., Hamlin, J.K. (2018). Feeling out a link between feeling and infant sociomoral evaluation. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 36(3), 482-500. doi: 10.1111/bjdp.12232

- Job activities:
The person recruited for this PhD will conduct experimental research, which involves:
-Conducting a systematic literature review.
-Obtaining the necessary authorisations for data collection (administrative, ethical, GDPR).
-Recruiting participants.
-Establishing experimental protocols and creating the material and documents necessary for data collection.
-Collecting the data.
-Performing statistical analysis of the data.
-Writing scientific articles in English.
-Presenting the results at national and international conferences.
The successful candidate will also be required to write and defend the PhD.

- Candidate profile:
Degree: MS (Master of Science)
Skills/knowledge
- In-depth knowledge of developmental psychology.
- General knowledge of social evaluation and/or the measurement of emotions in infants.
- Strong commitment to and experience in recruiting young participants.
- Essential experience in conducting tests with infants and their families.
- Experience in setting up experimental protocols and collecting and analysing experimental data.
- Experience in collecting behavioural and/or physiological data.
- Knowledge of or interest in the use of new technologies.
- Proficiency in statistical analysis.
- Good command of English (reading/writing).
- Very good command of French, as the successful candidate will be responsible for recruitment and conducting tests with families.
The project will require the specific use of tools/methods (e.g. standard and thermal cameras, eye-tracking equipment, behavioural analyses), and software (e.g. thermal imaging software, FaceReader software) for the collection and analysis of behavioural and physiological data.
The successful candidate must have obtained (or be in the process of obtaining) a Master's degree in Developmental Psychology, Psychology, Cognitive Science, or an equivalent discipline. Enrolment at the Clesco doctoral school requires, in addition to the Master's degree, a minimum rating of 14/20 for the Master's dissertation.

Soft skills
- High level of commitment to the project, reliability, and scientific rigor.
- Ease and patience in working with infants and their families.
- Ability to work collaboratively with the various members of the project team and other individuals involved.

Your Work Environment

The project will be carried out within the “Processus Langagiers & Cognitifs ” team at the CLLE (Cognition, Langues, Langage, Ergonomie) laboratory. The CLLE laboratory is a CNRS joint research unit created in January 2007 and mainly based at Toulouse Jean-Jaurès University. It comprises 205 members and is organised into three research teams, each consisting on average of 25 lecturers and researchers. The laboratory also develops cross-disciplinary research areas between these teams. It hosts a large number of PhD and postdoctoral researchers. It is a multidisciplinary research unit in the field of cognitive science: the work carried out there covers the fields of linguistics, psychology, computer science, philosophy, education, and neuroscience, to varying degrees.

Researchers at the CLLE laboratory have access to the “Cognition, Comportements et Usages“ (CCU) technology platform dedicated to the study of human cognitive behavior in various situations through physiological and psychological responses. The platform is hosted by the MSHS-T located at the Maison de la Recherche at Toulouse Jean-Jaurès University.
The research project will draw on the various tools available on the CCU technology platform. This platform includes the Toulouse Babylab, making it an ideal, safe, and suitable place for studying young children.

The project is funded and carried out as part of the ANR EVALEMO project. The successful candidate will undertake their PhD under the supervision of Sandra Molesti (MCF, CLLE, Université Toulouse Jean-Jaurès), Bahia Guellaï (PU, CLLE, Université Toulouse Jean-Jaurès) and Céline Scola (MCF, PsyCLE, Aix-Marseille Université).
Applications must be submitted via the portal https://emploi.cnrs.fr/, including:
1) A curriculum vitae;
2) A PDF document containing a cover letter, 1 or 2 letters of recommendation from previous supervisors, transcripts from the first and second years of the Master's degree (as well as a copy of the Master's degree certificate if already obtained), and a short summary of the Master's dissertation. Candidates shortlisted on the basis of their application will be offered an interview.
- More informations about the CLLE Laboratory : http://clle.univ-tlse2.fr
- Toulouse Babylab : https://babylabtlse.hypotheses.org/
- This recruitment is part of the ANR EVALEMO project (https://anr.fr/Projet-ANR-24-CE28-7527).
- Person to contact for information about the position:
Sandra Molesti, MCF, Laboratoire CLLE

- Job constraints (travel, etc.) and risks:
Data collection will mainly take place at Toulouse Babylab (CCU platform, MSHS-T), although visits to nurseries may be required. Sessions at Toulouse Babylab may take place on Saturdays and during school holidays.
The successful candidate will be required to travel to give international and national scientific presentations.

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

2300 € gross monthly

Annual leave and RTT

44 jours

Remote Working practice and compensation

Pratique et indemnisation du TT

Transport

Prise en charge à 75% du coût et forfait mobilité durable jusqu’à 300€

About the offer

About the CNRS

The CNRS is a major player in fundamental research on a global scale. The CNRS is the only French organization active in all scientific fields. Its unique position as a multi-specialist allows it to bring together different disciplines to address the most important challenges of the contemporary world, in connection with the actors of change.

CNRS

The research professions