Babies know when you're faking

www.medicalnewstoday.com...
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands! That's easy enough for children to figure out because the emotion matches the movement. But when feelings and reactions don't align, can kids tell there's something wrong? New research from Concordia University proves that they can - as early as 18 months.

In a study recently published in Infancy: The Official Journal of the International Society on Infant Studies, psychology researchers Sabrina Chiarella and Diane Poulin-Dubois demonstrate that infants can detect whether a person's emotions are justifiable given a particular context. They prove that babiesunderstand how the meaning of an experience is directly linked to the expressions that follow.

The implications are significant, especially for caregivers. "Our research shows that babies cannot be fooled into believing something that causes pain results in pleasure. Adults often try to shield infants from distress by putting on a happy face following a negative experience. But babies know the truth: as early as 18 months, they can implicitly understand whichemotions go with which events," says psychology professor Poulin-Dubois.

At 18 months, however, the infants clearly detected when facial expressions did not match the experience. They spent more time looking at the researcher's face and checked back more frequently with the caregiver in the room with them so that they could gauge the reaction of a trusted source. They also showed empathy toward the person only when her sad face was justified;that is, only when the researcher was sad or in pain when she was supposed to be.

Ha-ha when I read the title I first though someone is going to incorporate this into police questioning. Well I think a lot of us picked up on this with kids and it seems reasonable to believe. Kind of sounds like the beginning of a joke though. You can’t even fool a 2 year old.

reply to post by Grimpachi


I am not proposing we throw out the baby with the bathwater here....but this is not entirely true in the context they are giving it.

My youngest son, if you faked crying he would start crying too. You could stop, and he would stop, then start again, and he would start again.

I think that they have the ability to tell the difference....they just aren't highly practiced at using it.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


Maybe it was scary to him. Who knows I read articles if I find them interesting and plausible I post them sometimes.

I am sure their findings have some leeway in them they are probably generalizing.

Grimpachi
reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

 

Maybe it was scary to him. Who knows I read articles if I find them interesting and plausible I post them sometimes.

I am sure their findings have some leeway in them they are probably generalizing.

Listen...you posting this article is awesome. I got my moneys worth out of your work, for sure.

I am commenting on the article. That's all. You keep doing what you do....its why I am here. Im a thread reader/commenter. Not a thread creator.

reply to post by Grimpachi


Grim, this is classic ! A video of people messing with little kids minds.

I'll smash my thumb with a hammer and lmao.

That little girl was lookin at that lady like,

Okay, I think I'm safe as long as she stays seated. SnF

I definitely agree, there's no tricking the kiddos.

I have noticed as a parent that when I am stressed, even in the most benign situations, I don't have to make a face or speak in an upset manner. My son knows. He just knows. His actions will reflect it, as a younger child it was just actions but now that he is older and coming around more verbally I can just come in after a particularly rough day and say "Mommy what's wrong?".

Even if I am just zoned out thinking about something that is really bugging me he will come up and say "What's wrong mommy?".

No fooling those tiny humans! Especially when they learn to spell, god I dread the day.

reply to post by randyvs


Randy you cracked me up I had to go back and re watch the video thinking of it the way you did.

I'm sorry but it dosnt take a rocket scientist to figure out your baby feels what you feel.why mess with these little kids heads to pome and prod with what mother nature shows on a day to day bassis.I mean all u have to do is follow a family around and observe to see real life reactions good post.

There are sensory organs that create such sublime sensations as to almost go unnoticed. The VNO could be an example of this, and a fine way to detect general mood of those around you via chemical signals.

There is so much to know still about our sensory experience. It seems as though the entire body was designed to provide sensory input while keeping itself alive. It funnels all this information into a conscious awareness for processing.

bigfatfurrytexan

Grimpachi
reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

 

Maybe it was scary to him. Who knows I read articles if I find them interesting and plausible I post them sometimes.

I am sure their findings have some leeway in them they are probably generalizing.

Listen...you posting this article is awesome. I got my moneys worth out of your work, for sure.

I am commenting on the article. That's all. You keep doing what you do....its why I am here. Im a thread reader/commenter. Not a thread creator.

You hassling people again BFFT?

That is so mean.

.. nothing worse than when you try to fool a kid, and they look right through you and you are left standing there looking like someone who can't even pull the woll over a kids eyes. That's a blow to the ego.

lol

Also it should be something to consider.. maybe some parents are just bad liars. The kids might just be picking up on how crap dad is at telling fibs.

Oo

ValentineWiggin
I definitely agree, there's no tricking the kiddos.

Even if I am just zoned out thinking about something that is really bugging me he will come up and say "What's wrong mommy?".

There you go, you got it Valentine. That's the way I look at it, too. The lady in the science experiment was using a bunch of math and equations and everything and totally missed that point.

Why is it so hard for science to get their silly heads around the concept that all people and all kids are different.

It is not mind boggling stuff, it is just CDF.

It is the methodology they use that is at fault. They run the experiment with x number of children chosen from the kiddies with parents at the university, get the results and then make these 'averaged' claims.

Some kids are good at this and some are not. Every parent knows this. Some are good at math and some are not.

Western science wants everything in nice little neat boxes. Well life is a continuum. Life is not about boxes. Death is about boxes, but only because that is the custom.

Some kids can pull this off, some can't!

P