Do babies know innately know right from wrong? Researchers at Yale think they do.
"Not long ago, a team of researchers watched a 1-year-old boy take justice into his own hands. The boy had just seen a puppet show in which one puppet played with a ball while interacting with two other puppets. The center puppet would slide the ball to the puppet on the right, who would pass it back. And the center puppet would slide the ball to the puppet on the left . . . who would run away with it. Then the two puppets on the ends were brought down from the stage and set before the toddler. Each was placed next to a pile of treats. At this point, the toddler was asked to take a treat away from one puppet. Like most children in this situation, the boy took it from the pile of the “naughty” one. But this punishment wasn’t enough — he then leaned over and smacked the puppet in the head."
read more about the fascinating study here.
12 comments:
Wow! That is fascinating!
I like this, it reminded me about something.
I'm an atheist and a lot of people think I can't be a "moral" person because morals are decided through religions apparently.
Well, that statement is wrong and I wish people were smarter enough to realize that anybody can have morals, and that in fact, religions were created by human beings; therefore were the morals.
haha I tend to agree with this. Even as a baby, my daughter would look to see if I was watching when she was doing something she shouldn't be!
Interesting. I believe we all have instinctive knowledge of right and wrong no matter our age, religion, or upbringing (mentally unstable people aside). That said, I don't think babies should be held accountable, for their knowledge of right and wrong is not as advanced as someone older. Not saying that's what the study said but that's just my belief.
what an interesting and fascinating study! definitely gives you a lot to think about.
Really interesting study. Love that little kid giving the naughty puppet an extra little smack upside the head, so funny!
Wow, so observant and so emotional at 1-year-old. I think I'll click on your link and read some more...
I sort of wonder if a baby knows innately or is just that intently focused on what his parents do. Either way, it's interesting.
Dancing Branflake- the study is about holding babies accountable, thank goodness! They are still just babies! It's about observing babies and understanding them, what do they learn, when and how.
It does make sense that babies prefer the "nicer" toy- just for survival's sake. I imagine they're thinking, "if that toy was nice to the other toy, he'll be nice to me!"
but it cracks me up that the "naughty" toy got a bop on the head.
I read about this a few years ago when I was taking a Philosophy of Psychology class. We were talking about whether morality might be innate, if it's universal or if it's local. Absolutely fascinating subject, isn't it?
my comment is supposed to say that the study ISN'T about holding babies accountable. Oops!
I think babies are great observers, and they learn different behaviors at a very early age. They figure out how to get somebody to come over by crying, so why not other things.
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