researchers found that some babies stared at seemingly "magical" objects longer than regular toys and were more curious.
- the way babies react to magical toys and magic tricks may be related to their ability to solve problems and learn later in life.
- researchers found that some babies stared at seemingly "magical" objects longer than regular toys and were more curious.
- babies who show greater interest in the "impossible" continue to be attached to them as they grow up.
if you show your baby a ball floating in mid-air or a toy that looks like it's going through a wall, how do you think they'll react?
will they cry, quickly lose interest at a glance, stare at it so tightly that they don't even blink an eye?
researchers at johns hopkins university have found that babies who gaze intently at this magical hallucination for long periods of time are more likely to try to figure it out. it also shows how curiosity affects learning.
what's more, these curious babies continue to be curious as they grow up, becoming curious toddlers. scientists think this may help predict their future cognitive abilities.
Research results
for the study, the researchers decided to measure how babies reacted to things they didn't expect to happen — like magic tricks and toys that exhibited surprising results.
the researchers had 65 babies participate in the study at 11 months of age and then again at 17 months of age.
some babies saw a regular toy, while others saw a toy that appeared to go through a solid wall. six months later, they saw new toys, either new ordinary toys or toys that looked like they were floating in the air without gravity.
some babies stare at "impossible" objects for much longer than others.
in addition, the least interested babies continued to show interest in them at 17 months, while those fascinated by magical objects continued to show interest in them during the 6 months they were observed.
THE RESEARCHERS THEN FOLLOWED THEM UP AFTER THEY TURNED 3. DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THE RESEARCHERS SENT STANDARDIZED QUESTIONNAIRES TO PARENTS OF INFANTS TO GAUGE THEIR CURIOSITY.
they got the same results: at 11 and 17 months of age, babies who gazed at unexpected events longer were also rated as more curious babies by their parents.
Dr. JasmÃn Pérez, a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, said the study's most interesting result.
"[the fact] can be observed even before they learn to walk or talk, which is very surprising and exciting," she said.
why curiosity matters
this is the first study to address curiosity in the brain before language, or in other words, to address curiosity before babies can speak. so far, curiosity has only been studied in older children and adults.
"for years, researchers like us have been trying to understand the way babies think. to do this, we often measure the amount of time babies look at different types of events," perez said.
the study shows how early the human brain is able to understand from experience to distinguish between expected and unexpected events.
"overall, we know that babies tend to look at certain things longer than others. for example, when an object seems to float in mid-air or magically pops up, they stare at it," she said.
"but individual babies are different from each other. some people stare at these inexplicable events for a long time... some people lose interest just by looking at it. why? we wondered if these differences between babies made sense, or if they simply reflected random fluctuations in the baby's mood," she told .
previous researchers thought it was because babies were irritable, hungry, or just distracted.
but dr. lisa feigensen, co-director and co-author of the child development laboratory at perez and johns hopkins university, demonstrates that babies respond differently to the world.
previous research has found that surprising elements such as magic or hallucinations have been shown to help babies learn.
A paper Feigenson, also a co-author of the journal, published in the journal Science in 2015, found that when babies encounter a situation or object that behaves in a way they didn't expect, they work harder to understand it, so it may be the best way to teach them about the world.
the new study suggests that some babies are first and foremost better at spotting these unusual or surprising events.
"the data shows that some 3-year-olds have gained a foothold or seem particularly capable of learning a lot about the world," feigensen said.
Dr. Philip A. Fisher, a professor of psychology and director of the Center for Translational Neuroscience, told the study that the study found something new.
"the new findings currently found are that it shows that there are considerable differences in infants' abilities in the field, and that these differences remain stable over time," fisher told fisher.
but, fisher said, it's not entirely surprising to find such stable individual differences.
"developmental science shows that behavioral inhibition (shyness) can be observed in some children early in life, and that these traits remain stable in childhood and adolescence as well as in adulthood," he said.
how to help all children learn
when children grow up and can speak, it is easier to spot signs of strong learning ability: conscious, independent, lively minds that can make connections between unusual things.
or, a good listener, verbal confidence, strong memory, and vivid imagination may be clues to curiosity.
meanwhile, dr. ruth milanek, director of the neonatal neurodevelopmental tracking program at new hyde park cohen children's medical center in new york, said the study theoretically speculates that this innate curiosity about pre-language babies can predict their future thoughts.
"[the study found] that babies who showed a strong reaction [to new unpredictable situations] at a younger age are likely to continue to recognize these impossible situations at an older age," she told .
However, according to Milanaik, it is too early to draw conclusions without further investigation.
"while this study does present new findings, whether or not interest is shown in illogical situations should not include or exclude gifted projects in the future," she said.
noting that intelligence is a complex trait influenced by a variety of genetic and environmental factors, and that there are multiple types of intelligence, she said: "these findings add to the literature about innate curiosity, but should not influence how parents perceive their children in any way." ”
fisher expressed the same thought.
"it's too early to say what impact this might have on early learning and parental awareness," he said.
however, the idea that these abilities may represent stable traits can help us determine whether they are associated with cognitive ability, mental health and well-being over time, fisher said.
just as previous studies on human personality have shown that parental support can help mitigate the effects of extreme shyness in children, fisher also believes that this may be an opportunity for parents with limited ability to recognize reality-distorted events to enhance this aspect of learning.
next
the next step in this curious baby study could be longitudinal tracking to see if the same kids continue to be rated as most curious or score higher on the test across the school.
previous research has linked high levels of curiosity to potentially greater academic achievement.
a 2018 study involving 6,200 kindergarten students and published in the journal pediatric research found that children who were more successful in reading and math scored higher on curiosity, both in direct assessments and in questionnaires filled out by their parents.
"individual differences can tell us how many different people see the same thing, even in infancy. what we can try to learn from this work is how we do early learning in a way that benefits all types of learners, even in the first years of life," perez said.