Yes, but ... We need reliability to advance infant work, but there's more to consider too: Important nuances of reliability and the need to include validity

The field of development needs more reliable infant work - improving our measures and methods is at the heart of accurately understanding why children do what they do! However, as scientists, we cannot stop with reliability but must also include measures of validity in our studies. In this commentary, we clarify and expand upon discussions of reliability and measurement error. We also argue for the importance of assessing the validity of our measures and tasks. Indeed, careful considerations of both reliability and validity are necessary for improving infant research. Highlights Improving the reliability of infant work is critical; however, reliability by itself is not sufficient for advancing science. Capturing multiple types of reliability and indices of validity will lead to the best measures and tools for researchers. A careful consideration of both reliability and validity are necessary for improving infant research. Highlights Improving the reliability of infant work is critical; however, reliability by itself is not sufficient for advancing science. Capturing multiple types of reliability and indices of validity will lead to the best measures and tools for researchers. A careful consideration of both reliability and validity are necessary for improving infant research.