Naughty or Nice? Ask the Baby.
New moms have a lot of growing up to do. All the terrible things we say and do in the privacy of our own homes, cars and wherever else we think we aren't being seen or heard, now have an ever vigilant, ever interested witness. Fortunately, babies a) can't tattle on us and b) have no idea what's going on anyway.
Or so we thought.
A new study shows that babies as young as six months know the difference between naughty and nice, and prefer nice, at least in others.
In the study, infants watched as a googly-eyed toy either helped another googly-eyed toy over a hill, pushed it backward or did nothing. They then got to pick a toy to play with. Almost all picked the helpful toy over the other two, and the neutral toy over the naughty toy. When the experiment was repeated with non-googly-eyed toys, the babies didn't show a preference.
In other words, Baby. Knows. Everything. So, new moms -- better clean up your act pronto. Or wear sunglasses.
Even babies judge their companions [MSNBC]
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