Babies have moral preferences

[nancylebov]

Apparently, they like helpers best, but only if the helper is aiding goal-oriented activity.

Also, babies are "cooperative in grabbing things".

Ok, there are some caveats at the end about how much the study means. Maybe it just means six-month-olds understand narrative--much earlier than I would have thought.

Comments

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

Since early in our being parents, my husband has believed that children understand both individual words and concepts long before they can express them.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. I was watching a little girl (seemed like 3 or 4, but it's a faint memory so she might have been younger) who wasn't talking at all have trouble getting puzzle pieces out of a wooden frame. I said something to her mother about her turning the puzzle over and shaking it, and the little girl did it.

I said something about being surprised that kids could understand so well before they talked, and her mother said that they did.

[madfilkentist]

I don't see any connection between what's described and moral preferences. It really isn't possible to have moral preferences until you're in a position to make choices that have long-term effects.

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

You're right that assigning moral preferences to the observed result is hardly determinative.

For example, children may seek the "helper block" because they are self-interested and want help, not because they approve of altruism.

[madfilkentist]

It makes perfect sense to me that babies would have an evolved skill at recognizing potential helpers from an early age.

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

My favorite experiment involving children and the ability to master complex narratives involved research in Pokemon cards. Extremely young children (age 3) understood complex details of Pokemon cards, such as their powers, backstory, and how they interelated.

There is a lot of research in education that gears toward greater flexibility and the introduction of greater complexity at ever earlier ages.