Staff profile

About Me

I obtained my undergraduate degree in Japanese and Mandarin from the University of Tasmania in 2008, and my Master's degree in Applied Linguistics from Nanjing Normal University in 2013. I completed my DPhil in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford in 2018, where I researched how infants learn colour words and what that means for their colour perception. From there I moved to the University of East Anglia as a postdoc, working on early visual working memory with Professor John Spencer. My research at Durham focuses on the interplay between early cognition and word learning in infants, looking particularly at the links between cognition, environmental factors and early word learning.

I also carry out work in metascience and am an advocate of Open Scholarship, developing pipelines and software for researchers to use.

• Developmental cognitive neuroscience
• Early word learning
• Infant development

• 2024: Associate Editor in Chief at Journal of Open Source Software (JOSS):
• 2024: Associate Editor at Journal of Child Language:
• 2023: Software Sustainability Institute Fellow:
• 2022: Topic Editor at Journal of Open Source Software (JOSS):

Conference Paper

• Early Colour Word Learning in British Infants
  Forbes, S. H., & Plunkett, K. (2017, December). Early Colour Word Learning in British Infants. Presented at The Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, London, UK

Journal Article

• Language exposure and brain myelination in early development
  Fibla, L., Forbes, S. H., McCarthy, J., Mee, K., Magnotta, V., Deoni, S., Cameron, D., & Spencer, J. P. (online). Language exposure and brain myelination in early development. Journal of Neuroscience, 43(23), 4279-4290. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.1034-22.2023
• Adaptation and Standardization of two Arabic Communicative Development Inventories 4 for Children Aged 8 to 30 Months and 30 to 48 Months in Egypt
  Abdelwahab, A., Floccia, C., Forbes, S., Alsiddiqi, Z., Al-Shdifat, K., Mckean, C., Odeh, T., Trebacz, A., & Khattab, G. (in press). Adaptation and Standardization of two Arabic Communicative Development Inventories 4 for Children Aged 8 to 30 Months and 30 to 48 Months in Egypt. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research,
• The fNIRS glossary project: a consensus-based resource for functional near-infrared spectroscopy terminology
  Stute, K., Gossé, L. K., Montero-Hernandez, S., Perkins, G. A., Yücel, M. A., Cutini, S., Durduran, T., Ehlis, A.-C., Ferrari, M., Gervain, J., Mesquita, R. C., Orihuela-Espina, F., Scholkmann, F., Tachtsidis, I., Torricelli, A., Yodh, A. G., Carp, S. A., Dehghani, H., Fang, Q., Hoshi, Y., …Yu, C.-C. (2025). The fNIRS glossary project: a consensus-based resource for functional near-infrared spectroscopy terminology. Neurophotonics, 12(2), Article 027801. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.12.2.027801
• To Improve Literacy, Improve Equality in Education, Not Large Language Models
  Forbes, S. H., & Guest, O. (2025). To Improve Literacy, Improve Equality in Education, Not Large Language Models. Cognitive Science: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 49(4), Article e70058. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.70058
• Investigating solitude as a tool for downregulation of daily arousal using ecological momentary assessments
  Nguyen, T. T., Konu, D., & Forbes, S. (2025). Investigating solitude as a tool for downregulation of daily arousal using ecological momentary assessments. Journal of Personality, 93(1), 31-50. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12939
• Infants' Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large-Scale, Multi-Lab, Coordinated Replication Study
  Lucca, K., Yuen, F., Wang, Y., Alessandroni, N., Allison, O., Alvarez, M., Axelsson, E. L., Baumer, J., Baumgartner, H. A., Bertels, J., Bhavsar, M., Byers‐Heinlein, K., Capelier‐Mourguy, A., Chijiiwa, H., Chin, C. S., Christner, N., Cirelli, L. K., Corbit, J., Daum, M. M., Doan, T., …Hamlin, J. K. (2024). Infants' Social Evaluation of Helpers and Hinderers: A Large-Scale, Multi-Lab, Coordinated Replication Study. Developmental Science, 28(1), Article e13581. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13581
• Teaching coding inclusively: If this, then what?
  Guest, O., & Forbes, S. H. (2024). Teaching coding inclusively: If this, then what?. Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, 27(2/3), 196-217. https://doi.org/10.5117/tvgn2024.2-3.007.gues
• The myth of normative development
  Forbes, S. H., Aneja, P., & Guest, O. (2024). The myth of normative development. Infant and Child Development, 33(1), Article e2393. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2393
• Stunting in infancy is associated with atypical activation of working memory and attention networks
  Wijeakumar, S., Forbes, S. H., Magnotta, V. A., Deoni, S., Jackson, K., Singh, V. P., Tiwari, M., Kumar, A., & Spencer, J. P. (2023). Stunting in infancy is associated with atypical activation of working memory and attention networks. Nature Human Behaviour, 7, 2199-2211. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01725-3
• Colour perception changes with basic colour word comprehension
  Forbes, S. H., & Plunkett, K. (2023). Colour perception changes with basic colour word comprehension. Developmental Science, 26(6), Article e13406. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13406
• Vocabulary and automatic attention: The relation between novel words and gaze dynamics in noun generalization
  Bakopoulou, M., Lorenz, M. G., Forbes, S. H., Tremlin, R., Bates, J., & Samuelson, L. K. (2023). Vocabulary and automatic attention: The relation between novel words and gaze dynamics in noun generalization. Developmental Science, 26(6), Article e13399. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13399
• Poor air quality is associated with impaired visual cognition in the first two years of life: A longitudinal investigation
  Spencer, J. P., Forbes, S. H., Naylor, S., Singh, V. P., Jackson, K., Deoni, S., Tiwari, M., & Kumar, A. (2023). Poor air quality is associated with impaired visual cognition in the first two years of life: A longitudinal investigation. eLife, 12, Article e83876. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.83876
• Improving the generalizability of infant psychological research: The ManyBabies model
  Visser, I., Bergmann, C., Byers-Heinlein, K., Dal Ben, R., Duch, W., Forbes, S., Franchin, L., Frank, M. C., Geraci, A., Hamlin, J. K., Kaldy, Z., Kulke, L., Laverty, C., Lew-Williams, C., Mateu, V., Mayor, J., Moreau, D., Nomikou, I., Schuwerk, T., Simpson, E. A., …Zettersten, M. (2022). Improving the generalizability of infant psychological research: The ManyBabies model. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 45, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x21000455
• Frontotemporal activation differs between perception of simulated cochlear implant speech and speech in background noise: An image-based fNIRS study
  Defenderfer, J., Forbes, S., Wijeakumar, S., Hedrick, M., Plyler, P., & Buss, A. T. (2021). Frontotemporal activation differs between perception of simulated cochlear implant speech and speech in background noise: An image-based fNIRS study. NeuroImage, 240, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118385
• The development of contour processing abilities in the second year.
  Forbes, S. H., & Plunkett, K. (2021). The development of contour processing abilities in the second year. Developmental Psychology, 57(5), https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001021
• An Adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates CDI in 17 Arabic Dialects for Children Aged 8 to 30 Months
  Abdelwahab, A. G. S., Forbes, S., Cattani, A., Goslin, J., & Floccia, C. (2021). An Adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates CDI in 17 Arabic Dialects for Children Aged 8 to 30 Months. Language Learning and Development, 17(4), https://doi.org/10.1080/15475441.2021.1916502
• Processing pipeline for image reconstructed fNIRS analysis using both MRI templates and individual anatomy
  Forbes, S. H., Wijeakumar, S., Eggebrecht, A. T., Magnotta, V. A., & Spencer, J. P. (2021). Processing pipeline for image reconstructed fNIRS analysis using both MRI templates and individual anatomy. Neurophotonics, 8(02), Article 025010. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.nph.8.2.025010
• PupillometryR: An R package for preparing and analysing pupillometry data
  Forbes, S. H. (2020). PupillometryR: An R package for preparing and analysing pupillometry data. The Journal of Open Source Software, 5(50), https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.02285
• Linguistic and Cultural Variation in Early Color Word Learning
  Forbes, S. H., & Plunkett, K. (2020). Linguistic and Cultural Variation in Early Color Word Learning. Child Development, 91(1), https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13164
• The functional brain networks that underlie visual working memory in the first two years of life
  Delgado Reyes, L., Wijeakumar, S., Magnotta, V. A., Forbes, S. H., & Spencer, J. P. (2020). The functional brain networks that underlie visual working memory in the first two years of life. NeuroImage, 219, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116971
• Infants show early comprehension of basic color words.
  Forbes, S. H., & Plunkett, K. (2019). Infants show early comprehension of basic color words. Developmental Psychology, 55(2), 240-249. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000609
• The role of colour labels in mediating toddler visual attention
  Forbes, S. H., & Plunkett, K. (2019). The role of colour labels in mediating toddler visual attention. Cognition, 186, 159-170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2019.01.008
• 汉英儿童故事讲述任务中完成体使用的对比研究
  Liang, D., Song, Y., & Forbes, S. H. (2015). 汉英儿童故事讲述任务中完成体使用的对比研究