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posted by LaminatorX on Wednesday October 08 2014, @09:43PM   Printer-friendly
from the please-put-down-my-camera dept.

http://www.washington.edu/news/2014/10/07/toddlers-regulate-behavior-to-avoid-making-adults-angry/
Abstract: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885201414000513

Researchers have found that toddlers as young as 15 months can detect anger from adults and regulate their behaviour accordingly.

Now researchers at the University of Washington have found that children as young as 15 months can detect anger when watching other people’s social interactions and then use that emotional information to guide their own behavior.

The study, published in the October/November issue of the journal Cognitive Development, is the first evidence that younger toddlers are capable of using multiple cues from emotions and vision to understand the motivations of the people around them.

“At 15 months of age, children are trying to understand their social world and how people will react,” said lead author Betty Repacholi, a faculty researcher at UW’s Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences and an associate professor of psychology. “In this study we found that toddlers who aren’t yet speaking can use visual and social cues to understand other people – that’s sophisticated cognitive skills for 15-month-olds.”

The findings also linked the toddlers’ impulsive tendencies with their tendency to ignore other people’s anger, suggesting an early indicator for children who may become less willing to abide by rules.

The abstract explains the process a little more:

Infants were bystanders to a social exchange in which an Experimenter performed actions on objects and an Emoter expressed anger, as if they were forbidden acts. Next, the Emoter became neutral and her visual access to the infant was experimentally manipulated. The Emoter either: (a) left the room, (b) turned her back, (c) faced the infant but looked down at a magazine, or (d) faced and looked toward the infant. Infants were then presented with the test objects. When the previously angry Emoter was facing them, infants were hesitant to imitate the demonstrated acts in comparison to the other conditions. We hypothesize that infants integrated the emotional and visual-perceptual cues to determine whether the Emoter would get angry at them, and then regulated their behavior accordingly.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by kaszz on Wednesday October 08 2014, @10:30PM

    by kaszz (4211) on Wednesday October 08 2014, @10:30PM (#103815) Journal

    I would say children are incredible more intelligent than adults realize. They WILL pick up on disharmony and covered up conflicts between parents and bad people. And they can also pick up stuff earlier than the society credits them for. Too young is bullshit. One should however not force or expect that they pick up these things and it varies between individuals. They might not decipher what the disharmony is about. But they likely will pick up that there is one.

    • (Score: 1) by silverly on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:29PM

      by silverly (4052) on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:29PM (#103832) Homepage

      I would agree (even with a lack of evidence).

      I think adults will always underestimate children since their memory isn't as strong.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 10 2014, @08:54AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 10 2014, @08:54AM (#104371)

        That's why I don't carry babies unless the parent(s) AND the babies give permission. Even if the parents ask me to (unless of course it is very important e.g. emergency).

        To get permission from the baby what I do is say "hi" to the baby, then extend my arms and hands out towards the baby. If the baby reaches out or moves/turns towards me, then I carry the baby. If the baby turns away, the baby doesn't want to be carried by me. If the baby just looks, he/she might be feeling unsure, so either try once again or forget it. I find when I get permission the baby usually doesn't cry when I carry him/her.

        Too many adults just grab the baby (sometimes even without permission from parents!), I consider that extremely rude and insensitive. Babies are people and not dolls/toys for you to play with. They are also not property of their parents. Just because their parents say you can carry them or play with them doesn't mean you can or should.

        How would you feel if some big unknown person just grabbed you and carried you? Or pinched your cheeks, or assaulted you in other "popular" ways. Some rude lady pinched my niece's cheeks when she was very very young (less than a year old?), and months later my niece was afraid of her.

        Most babies are fairly intelligent. They just are ignorant and their memory doesn't work the way ours does - they don't yet have the symbols and systems to handle memories the way we do.

    • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday October 09 2014, @12:13AM

      by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Thursday October 09 2014, @12:13AM (#103849) Homepage Journal

      Well, that depends on the adult. Some of us who have had children have seen what science is saying, and it agrees with what I, as a parent, saw in my own (now grown) kids. It's good to see scientific confirmation of what one knows from experience.

      But yes, many adults think kids are stupid. Actually, you're born both as smart as you'll ever be and as ignorant as you'll ever be. You know absolutely nothing, but your capacity to learn will never be higher.

      --
      mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 09 2014, @02:02AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 09 2014, @02:02AM (#103868)

        If you are really interested in what kids can sense (and not sense), this book gives the results from a great deal of direct research on infants,
            http://articles.latimes.com/1988-04-03/books/bk-1110_1_baby-boom [latimes.com]
        WORLD OF THE NEWBORN by Charles and Daphne Maurer
        It's out of print, but there are used copies around at low cost.

        From the review linked above:

        No wonder babies bawl at birth. After surviving the journey from the weird and otherworldly environment of the womb, which sounds like a pulsating water pump working in tandem with a double bellows, infants are assaulted by a "sensual bouillabaisse" in which sights have sounds, feelings have tastes, and smells can cause dizziness. "The wildest of 1960s' psychedelia," the authors write, "could not begin to compare with the everyday experience of a baby's entry into the world." "The World of the Newborn" combines joyful, stylish writing with responsible reporting based on an impressive survey of medical literature written in English. The authors (Daphne is a psychologist, Charles, a writer and photographer) are scientifically conservative, wary of the wisdom spun at home during the baby boom.

        The authors host a mirror of the original (longer) NY Times review,
            http://www.maurer.ca/WorldOfTheNewborn/NYTimes.html [maurer.ca]

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 08 2014, @10:58PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 08 2014, @10:58PM (#103820)

    "suggesting an early indicator for children who may become less willing to abide by rules"

    not sure why, but seems rather ominous

    • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:40PM

      by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:40PM (#103835)

      Yep, i heard of a European right-wing president who was pushing the idea that future delinquants should be identified from Kindergarten.
      Really glad this idiot lost the next election, and is now knee-deep in judges.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 08 2014, @10:58PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 08 2014, @10:58PM (#103821)

    Toddlers also bogart the joint, little bastards..

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:11PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:11PM (#103824)

      you are suppose to give them the "edibles", not a lit joint. very unsafe

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 09 2014, @01:43AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 09 2014, @01:43AM (#103865)

        Actually there was a story in the paper here about a six-year old kid who has epilepsy real bad (an attack a day or more) and his parents were putting a drop of infused oil under his tongue every day. They claimed it made a huge difference.

  • (Score: 1) by Horse With Stripes on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:13PM

    by Horse With Stripes (577) on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:13PM (#103825)

    Maybe we could study these "toddler" creatures and use what we learn to teach drunk people to detect anger and regulate behaviour?

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by SlimmPickens on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:38PM

    by SlimmPickens (1056) on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:38PM (#103834)

    I've never forgotten an incident when I was visiting Italy when I was seven years old. There was a 25 year old guy speaking to a 5 year old kid, the kid clearly does not speak the same language but he's trying to work with the guy with gestures etc. The older guy just loses it and starts shouting at the kid. This kid just looked at him like he's an idiot, shrugged his shoulders and a proceeded to ignore him while the older guy turns red and froths at the mouth shouting.

    That really made an impact on me. More than simply disregarding the opinion of angry and inarticulate people, I think that imploring people is a right that must be earned with previous demonstration of rationality.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:46PM

    by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:46PM (#103837)

    Seriously, anyone who raised a child (or paid attention when their siblings did) knows that the little buggers will react to angry faces, when they get caught doing (of hopefully only about to) something they shouldn't.

    I'm pretty sure that "recognize facial threat to current course of action" is hardcoded in our genes...

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 09 2014, @05:04AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 09 2014, @05:04AM (#103903)

      This is a /. article. Any fucking idiot in the world knows that small children can sense what is going on. Who funded this idiocy?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 09 2014, @09:34AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 09 2014, @09:34AM (#103961)

        Any fucking idiot in the world knows that small children can sense what is going on.

        Well, that still makes it informative to those who don't fuck, and to those who are not idiots. ;-)

        • (Score: 1) by pnkwarhall on Thursday October 09 2014, @11:18PM

          by pnkwarhall (4558) on Thursday October 09 2014, @11:18PM (#104242)

          I really hope that last comment was sarcasm...

          The reason I can't tell if it was or not? In the various cultures I associate with there's an increasingly accepted attitude that if it can't be (or hasn't been) "proven" with scientific methods, then it's not "real knowledge". (i.e. stated disregard for the significance of anecdotal experience) The attitude I refer to is probably one of the reasons this, yes, _idiotic_ study was funded.

          From my own experiences as a parent, my social association w/ parents of adult children, and a general respect for traditional cultures of all types, I've come to the conclusion that one of the fundamental ways that one can grow one's understanding of humanity and cultivate wisdom is to raise some kids. It's not the only way -- and definitely not an assured path -- but it's probably the most- and most-successfully-used.

          You know, if you don't have children and are interested in aspects of their development, you could always go ask a few parents you know about their experiences. I **guarantee** that after a few conversations you'll know more about child development than you think you do after seeing the results of this study. (Obviously it depends on which parents you ask :) )

          --
          Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 09 2014, @11:27AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 09 2014, @11:27AM (#103975)

      Except they're not reacting to angry faces.

      They're reacting to the potential of angry faces.

  • (Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Thursday October 09 2014, @07:20AM

    by wonkey_monkey (279) on Thursday October 09 2014, @07:20AM (#103925) Homepage

    It's almost like they're little people.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk