posted December 12, 2007 02:00 PM         

Six- and 10-month-old babies are much more capable judges of character than previously thought. Not only can infants pick out a good Samaritan, they tend to identify with them, according to a Yale University study published in the journal Nature.

The study released last month presented babies with a diorama-like display of an anthropomorphic circle struggling to make it up a hill. Just when it appeared that all hope was lost, a heroic triangle appeared, and pushed the circle to the top. The round climber bounces, clearly elated to have reached the summit. The same scenario is played out again, only this time a square appears at the top of the hill and pushes the circle to the bottom.

The babies were then asked to pick a toy – the helper or the hinderer, as scientists called them. One hundred percent of 6-month-olds and 87.5 percent of 10-month-olds chose the helper. The results were consistent even when the triangle and the square swapped places as good guy and bad guy. In several other iterations of the experiment, the helper, regardless of shape or color, won out.

"Babies are very competent socially," says Kiley Hamlin, lead author of the study. "They can figure this kind of stuff out without people explicitly teaching what's nice and not nice and who's nice and who's not nice."

In another component of the study, researchers showed the circle choosing to sit with the helper or the hinderer. In this instance they found that 10-month-old babies were far more adept at noticing something seemed strange when the circle decided to sit with the hinderer. (They figured this out by how long the baby watched the helper or hinderer pair up with the circle, working under the assumption that babies, like adults, study something that appears out of the ordinary.)

While other research has shown that babies make assessments about people based on their physical appearance – they gravitate toward attractive people – these new findings show more complex levels of judgment.

"In any species that needs to cooperate as much as humans do … we always need to know who might be a good cooperator and who might not," says Ms. Hamlin.

Copyright © 2007 The Christian Science Monitor

posted December 12, 2007 02:22 PM         

And their hugs are so sincere some of the best hugs I have ever had.

This is actually the first time in my life I share this... and yes I am feeling a little uncomfortable!

posted December 13, 2007 09:41 AM         

It's been my experience with babies that yes, they do seem to understand and know very early in life who they can depend on.

I have always felt that babies see beyond the physical appearance of people and actually respond to what they sense or see inside the person.

I think that may be why that in spite of all the other Disney movies where goodness is aligned with attractiveness in the characters Shrek was such a big hit with kids. That movie may further prove this study to be correct. It's actually goodness that kids see or sense in people that attract them. Not their physical appearance.

posted December 13, 2007 05:13 PM         

I think my head is spinning now.

I was also remembering when I was younger (my teens) and I had to take care of all my nephews and nieces and they would always come to bother me or just look for me to pick on me, I would get so annoyed I would take them to the bathroom , carry them from the feet upside down and act like I was going to dunk them in the toilet.But they were never scare LOL

posted December 13, 2007 06:35 PM         

If you remember, from your chart, the first thing that shows up is how giving you are and how nurturing you are, almost to a fault. You also have a huge strong focus in Cancer which is the nurturer, children are definitely going to sense that, so it's not ego on your part to recognize that. Also, those kids could feel that you were not going to dunk them in the toilet, they probably thought it was funny and fun.

Geocosmic Valentine

posted December 14, 2007 10:59 AM         

I used to babysit a lot in my teens and all the kids I watched were total brats. I never wanted kids either.

That changed when I had my first baby and held him in my arms.

Kids are a lot of work and worry and they can drive you nuts at times but they are wonderful. They can brighten the worse day with the funny things they do and say and an " I love you" and hug out of the blue. They rekindle the imagination and it's wonderful seeing life through the eyes of a child.

The greatest lesson that children teach us is what unconditional love is all about. Not to mention patience.

I never wanted kids but after having them and my grandkids I realize how very empty my life would have been without them.