The Sneakiness of Babies

As this is the very start of my blog, I want to talk about babies. It seems appropriate that at the beginning of this, I should write about the beginning of life and the way that psychologists think that babies are born to make the most of the limited capacity that they have.

Obviously, babies are born completely reliant on others, so they have to have the ability to communicate what they need to adults and inspire them to get it without actually speaking. This is why crying is specifically tailored to activate the nervous system in adults, which is the reason that people find the noise so disturbing and immediately respond. A study published in Acta Pediactrica showed that after adults listened to recordings of birdsong, adults in distress and a baby crying, they had a significantly higher reaction speed after the recording of a baby crying. Some research has suggested that this is due to the pitch as babies tend to have a higher pitched cry when they are in more distress, however, all three sounds were at a similar pitch, so this interpretation seems unlikely. Other research has suggested that it triggers the autonomic nervous system, which is the cause of the physiological resonse, such as the raised heartbeat, which in turn gave the adults a faster reaction time. Exactly which part of the composition of the cry it is that causes this response is unclear, but I think it is safe to assume that it is to do with the basic instinct for the continuation of the survival of the human species.

Another interesting area is the way that a baby is designed to form attachments to those people that interact with them best, even if these are not the people that they see most often. This is most likely to be because the people that spend the time to interact with them best are most likely to understand and care for their needs, so an infant will try and look to them for help. Most often these people are the parents and to maximise interaction with them babies eyes only have one focus when they are born, as the ability to focus their eyes nearer and further away only develops over time. The focus that they are born with is just the right distance to be able to see the face of the person that is holding them and a further way in which they sneakily manipulate adults into doing things for them, is smiling when they see a human face. This is hugely rewarding and therefore makes adults want to help them, again showing how although babies cannot do things for themselves, they are designed to be able to get other peple to do it for them. A newborn isn't fussy about who they smile at and will simle when they see a carboard oval with two dots for eyes, however, this all changes by the time they get to four months old, when they will only smile at a real face or a very good picture. This shows just how quickly babies learn to recognise things in their environment, which again helps them to survive.

So, my blog is born and of it develops as quickly as people, I would be very happy.