8 Ways Babies Are Smarter Than You Think
Newborns grow at a very fast rate - in fact, they double in size in just one year and finish shaping out by the time they hit five years old. In order to sustain all this growing and learning, babies have an astonishing number of brain synapses (the connection between brain cells); 1,000 trillion connections, more than twice the number in an adult.
It’s probably why all parents at one point or another look at their baby and wonder “what is he thinking?” Based on this alone, there's proof that your little one has more going on upstairs than you might imagine.
Let’s look at some other things that make babies awesome:
Babies actually know when a new language is being spoken
We all know that babies are uniquely designed to absorb information in order to accelerate the learning process, but research shows that their brains are wired to learn multiple languages. According to a study conducted by the University of British Columbia, at four months old, babies can, in fact, tell from visual cues when a different language is being spoken - this comes from close observation of the speaker’s mouth and facial movements.
Babies who grow in a bilingual environment are uniquely positioned to learn the discrimination abilities required for separating and understanding different languages. Another study suggested that bilingual homes allow infants to keep that part of their brain that picks up languages flexible for longer, compared to those who only hear one language.
Babies pick up on each other's emotions
According to a study published in Developmental Psychology, babies are perfectly capable of reading body language and responding. So if your little one has never interacted with Fido, keep in mind that he can read an angry snarl just as accurately as a welcoming hug. In a different study from the same team at Brighton Lab, it was found that infants can pick up mood swings when listening to Beethoven.
Small babies learn quickly what words mean
In a surprising study by the University of Pennsylvania, researchers proposed that babies as young as six months old can identify the link between images of objects and their corresponding names (for example, the knowledge that a picture of daddy is the word “daddy”). Child developmental experts believe that infants acquire this ability after the first year, but in this study the authors had six-month-olds look at pictures of food while their parents made a simple dialogue.
By asking questions like “where’s the apple?” researchers found that the babies looked more at the named item more than any other image, suggesting they knew what the name meant. According to the researchers, this is more proof that parents should talk to their babies more, even when they’re only getting empty stares.
Your little toddler can gauge fairness
Why do you think kids constantly whine “it’s not fair" when interacting with other children or grown-ups? The University of Washington published a study that showed that babies figure out the balances of fairness as young as 15 months. In the study, babies were lined up to watch videos of milk and crackers being handed out equally or unequally, and interestingly, they paid more attention in instances when the distribution was unequal, suggesting they can tell the difference - and are surprised by it.
Not surprisingly, babies who showed the most sensitivity to this violation of fairness also displayed higher levels of altruism in being willing to share their toys in a subsequent study.
Young babies understand and appreciate proper punishment.
It turns out that eight-month-old children actually know when bad people are punished. Researchers from the University of British Columbia set up different scenarios using puppets that acted positively or negatively towards other characters. In one instance, babies were shown puppets giving toys to the “nice" puppets, and in another instance, they were shown puppets taking toys from the “mean" puppets, and they responded more positively to the puppets that mistreated the “bad" puppets.
The researchers later argued that this may be a precursor to what kids reveal in social situations later in life, like when they tattle on perceived naughty kids. What this study suggests is that this is an innate behavior rather than a learned trait.
Toddlers can fall for peer pressure
Do you want to raise a disciplined, friendly child? Researchers suggest that surrounding him with well-behaved kids is one way to go. The journal Cell Biology published a study in 2012 that found that a two-year-old was more likely to adopt new behavior if three or more of his friends were doing it compared to just one - an indicator that young kids can also fall prey to peer pressure.
Babies value altruism
This might not appear to be true considering the evidence that suggests kids are selfish and self-centered little creatures; however there is some evidence to suggest that kids are happier when they share things. A group of researchers gave a bunch of toddlers treats and asked them to share with a puppet; one treat for each toddler. But then they gave the toddlers an extra treat to give to the puppets, so they could share one and keep one for themselves. When they recorded the event, researchers found that the toddlers’ behavior and visible happiness increased when they gave their own treat as opposed to the extra one, which suggested that our desire and capacity to experience joy from helping others is an innate part of our nature.
Their brains thrive when they play and listen to music
You’ve most likely heard of a connection between certain forms of music and IQ (in fact research found that playing music instruments earlier on in life reduces the risk of dementia during old age). But new research now says that toddlers can benefit from being involved in music making.
In a recent Canadian study, one-year-olds showed improved coordination including pointing at out-of-reach objects and waving goodbye after spending some time in an interactive music class where they learned to make the hand motion to certain songs and “played" percussion instruments. They also showed less anxiety in unfamiliar surroundings than babies who took less active classes that included playing normal games at different stations with music in the background.
