Author: Robby Berman / Source: Big Think
When you think logically to figure something out, do you think in words? Most of us do. For many, there’s a constant conversation going on in our minds: commentary, queries, and personal deliberations that rarely cease. But here’s an interesting question: When we were infants, before we knew words, were we capable of such logical thought?
A new study published in the journal Science by a team of psychologists suggests that babies think logically in spite of their lack of language, at least if they’re 12 months or older.How the study worked
The study observed 144 pre-verbal babies, half of them 12 months old and half 19 months. (Babies under 12 months weren’t involved, so the study doesn’t rule out that infants younger than 12 months are capable of logic.)
Each baby sat in its mother’s lap during the experiment — the mothers remained motionless and silent and wore blindfolds so as not to unintentionally impart any cues to the children as they watched an animated sequence.
The idea was to create expectations on the part of the subjects and then observe them to see if they reacted when those expectations were frustrated. Each animation featured a pair of objects with the same top.
These objects were hidden behind a barrier, and a cup would swoop down behind the barrier and retrieve one of the objects. When the babies were shown the remaining object, they could logically infer which object was in the scoop.
Pre-Verbal Baby Logic Rewarded Big Think Editors
Play Video
Play
Mute
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration Time 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Progress: 0%
Stream TypeLIVE
Remaining Time -0:00
Playback Rate
1
- Chapters
Chapters
- descriptions off, selected
Descriptions
- subtitles off, selected
Subtitles
- captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
- captions off, selected
Captions
Audio Track
Fullscreen
This is a modal window.
Caption Settings Dialog
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
TextColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentBackgroundColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindowColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaque
Font Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%
Text…
The post Logic arrives before words for human babies appeared first on FeedBox.