RSSNewsletterSiteMapFeedback

Home · Weather · Forum · Learning Chinese · Jobs · Shopping
Search This Site
China | International | Business | Government | Environment | Olympics/Sports | Travel/Living in China | Culture/Entertainment | Books & Magazines | Health
Home / Health / Photo Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Babies even months young can spot nice, nasty characters
Adjust font size:

This undated photo provided by Yale University shows an infant choosing a helpful toy instead of a hindering toy. During the experiment babies watch a toy try to climb a hill; another toy then comes by and either helps push the first toy over the mountain, or hinders it by pushing it back down. The babies almost always choose the helpful toy over the hindering one. (AP Photo/Yale University)

Babies who have not yet learned language have the ability to pick out who is naughty and who is nice, suggests a new study in Thursday's UK journal Nature.

Babies as young as 6 months old prefer people who help versus people who hurt, and this ability could be the foundation for moral thought and action later in life, said the researchers.

In the study that was set up to test this theory, researchers at Yale showed infants a variety of wooden characters, one of which looked like it was trying to climb a hill, with another trying to push it down and the third trying to help the first reach the hill's summit.

Up to 80 percent of infants when showed all of the characters reached out for the helping figure, opposed to the figure portrayed as the bad-guy.

Previous studies had showed that babies prefer physically attractive people, but there has been no data on whether babies judge people based on how they behave.

"It's incredibly impressive that babies can do this," said study lead author Kiley Hamlin, a psychology researcher at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. "It shows that we have these essential social skills occurring without much explicit teaching."

"Infants prefer an individual who helps another to one who hinders another, prefer a helping individual to a neutral individual and prefer a neutral individual to a hindering individual," wrote the researchers.

"These findings constitute evidence that pre-verbal infants assess individuals on the basis of their behaviour towards others."

In fact, being able to distinguish between friend or foe could be an important survival skill. "It's important to tell who is going to be helpful, who is going to be threatening," Hamlin noted.

But that's the evolutionary argument, and not one everyone would agree with it, said Tracy Dennis, an expert on child development and assistant professor of psychology at Hunter College in New York City.

"Even though these authors make a good argument that very young infants don't have a lot of time to learn, even some basic observation of people cooperating might be enough to make some learning take place," Dennis said. "It's important, but it's a study that people are going to debate about."

(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2007)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read

Comment
Username Password Anonymous
China Archives
Related >>
Most Viewed >>
-20 Tumors Removed from 'Elephant Man'
-HPV also blamed for oral cancer in men
-Medical Service for Foreigners
-Better nutrition in childhood, higher pay when grown up
-Sick girl receives free surgery in Xinjiang
SiteMap | About Us | RSS | Newsletter | Feedback

Copyright ? China.org.cn. All Rights Reserved E-mail: webmaster@china.org.cn Tel: 86-10-88828000 京ICP證 040089號

主站蜘蛛池模板: 在线拍揄自揄在线播放| 日本高清有码视频| 免费A级毛片无码A| 美女被奶乳羞羞漫画在线| 国产女人嗷嗷叫| 羞羞视频在线观看入口| 女人腿张开让男人桶爽| 丰满女邻居的嫩苞张开视频| 欧美日韩亚洲综合| 人人超碰人人爱超碰国产| 美女被吸乳羞羞动漫| 国产后入又长又硬| 在线观看www日本免费网站| 夜夜精品视频一区二区| 东北女人奶大毛多水多| 日本尤物精品视频在线看| 亚洲sss综合天堂久久久| 毛片免费观看网站| 侵犯小太正bl浴室子开张了| 美女被吸屁股免费网站| 国产剧情丝袜在线观看| GOGOGO高清免费看韩国| 影视先锋AV资源噜噜| 久久久久久亚洲精品无码| 日韩精品无码免费专区网站| 亚洲国产精品久久网午夜| 爱情岛论坛免费视频| 午夜欧美日韩在线视频播放| 黄瓜视频在线观看| 国产精品国三级国产av| av天堂午夜精品一区二区三区| 成人免费小视频| 久久99精品国产一区二区三区| 日韩欧美中文字幕出| 亚洲乱码精品久久久久..| 欧美激情xxx| 亚洲精品美女久久久久99| 稚嫩进出嗯啊湿透公交车漫画 | 日本乱码视频a| 久久精品无码午夜福利理论片| 欧美A级毛欧美1级a大片免费播放|