If you’ve been following, you now know that babies are not a blank slate but rather give indication of complex emotional feelings as early as 10 weeks. Jealousy, empathy are just some of the range of emotions that researchers have been studying. The hope is that by detecting anomalies earlier, pediatricians can recommend intervention earlier if needed.
If this all seems a bit “unscientific” well, it’s not. Researchers have been studying for decades babies responses to stimuli and have been able to identify several predictable baby behaviors. So what’s next?
Surprise, surprise, your baby is a social animal! Well, okay, maybe not, but research is showing that your baby has a surprising amount of social intellect by his first birthday. In fact, if he hasn’t developed certain social skill sets, he is at risk for speech delays.
Babies practice what researchers have dubbed as “gaze following”. Do you ever watch someone, their eyes and their gestures to tell how they’re feeling and what’s going on around you? Well, apparently you developed that skill well before age two. Even so, researchers say, babies who do not have the “gaze following” thing down by twelve months, are slower talkers. (Note that I didn’t say behind. . .just slower.)
In fact, babies are brilliant when it comes to the powers of observation. (See? You kept saying little Gertrude was gifted! Turns out she is!) One researcher took 6 month old infants and showed them a picture of a chimpanzee. The infants were allowed to look until they lost interest. Then, he showed them pictures of a new chimpanzee. With each new chimp, the infants perked right up! This proves, or so he claims, that infants easily recognized the difference between each individual face. By 9 months however, the same infants could not tell the chimps apart, but had increased their powers of observations in other ways.
What’s Next?
Behold the baby brain wave cap. Researchers are now trying to place sponge buffered sensors all over a babies head to see if baby brain waves are the same as adults. Each sponge capped baby was shown a series of pictures showing various shades of happiness or fear. Adults will categorize all smiles as happiness–will babies do the same? We don’t know yet, but our researching friends are quick to point out that if most babies are the same as adults, perhaps doctors could identify disorders such as autism in infancy. It would also put to rest the debate about immunizations causing autism.
Researchers are also debunking the idea that infants don’t have object permanence. They are now saying that junior cries when you leave the room because junior just doesn’t want you to leave–not because he thinks you’ve ceased to exist. Babies as young as 8 weeks have the idea that a particular object continues to exist. Who knew?
With all this new fancy research, do you know if your child is hitting his emotional and social markers? In my next and final blog in this series, I will give you just such a checklist.
Related Articles:
The Inner Workings of Your Baby’s Mind Part I
The Inner Workings of Your Baby’s Mind Part II