As what we were told in the past that babies are little angels who are innocent about their surroundings, a new study proved that they can socially discern bad from good at an early age.
Researchers from Yale University studied babies’ behavior toward strangers saying infants have the ability to evaluate people that they don’t know based on the latter’s actions.
A group of babies were tested, around six to 10 months old, and observed their behavior as they see strangers or third party people helping, doing nothing or hindering another person.
Kiley Hamlin said babies are more likely to approach a person who helps another rather those who hinders someone.
Hamlin and his colleagues used a climber made of wood and attached large eyes on it as the climber strives to get into the hill. As it attempts to get up to the hill, a helper and a hinderer will come out and would either push the climber up or down the hill.
The study showed that most of the 28 babies tested, majority of them were most likely approach the helper instead of the hinderer. This indicated that at an early age babies can make distinct impressions based on what they see.
Researchers said this study can be better translated to babies’ unbiased notion of what is good from bad as in making social judgment. Based on what they see, they can already identify social actions that may be morally upright in the case of helping and hate what the hinderers are doing.
Since babies have no preconceived idea of good and bad, researchers said this study only tells us that they have the basic foundation of what is to be moral when they were born and can be enhanced as they grow older.
CBC News