People much smarter than this here blogger at Yale’s “baby lab” have discovered that little cutie pies as young as 3-months-old may be able to ascertain right from wrong. You read that correctly. So if you ever get that feeling like those big ol’ eyes are watching and judging you like I sometimes do, well, you just may be right.
Here is an interesting video preview from the report that will be featured on this week’s edition of 60 Minutes.
In the clip a 5-month-old baby is given a puppet show in which one of the puppets struggles to open a box. A friendly puppy puppet in a yellow shirt helps. Then the scene is redone but this time a big old jerk in the form of a different puppy in a blue shirt slams the box shut. Then a researcher who has no knowledge of which puppet was nice or mean provides the baby a choice.
The research would seem to indicate that not only do these little tots have the ability to know right from wrong, but that they have a preference for the former – at more than 75%. What this could mean is that as humans we are born with a sense of morality and favor the good. I think that’s a pretty wonderful thought!
They even determined that babies as young as 3-months-old, by their predilection to look at things they prefer, were choosing the “good puppy.” Little babies, puppet puppies and science. Hard to beat that.
