Posted on 07/20/2009 6:48:44 PM PDT by decimon
New research shows babies have a handle on the meaning of different dog barks – despite little or no previous exposure to dogs.
Infants just 6 months old can match the sounds of an angry snarl and a friendly yap to photos of dogs displaying threatening and welcoming body language.
The new findings come on the heels of a study from the same Brigham Young University lab showing that infants can detect mood swings in Beethoven’s music.
Though the mix of dogs and babies sounds silly, experiments of this kind help us understand how babies learn so rapidly. Long before they master speech, babies recognize and respond to the tone of what’s going on around them.
“Emotion is one of the first things babies pick up on in their social world,” said BYU psychology professor Ross Flom, lead author of the study.
Flom and two BYU students report their latest “amazing baby” findings in the journal Developmental Psychology.
“We chose dogs because they are highly communicative creatures both in their posture and the nature of their bark,” Flom said.
In the experiment, the babies first saw two different pictures of the same dog, one in an aggressive posture and the other in a friendly stance. Then the researchers played – in random order – sound clips of a friendly and an aggressive dog bark.
“They only had one trial because we didn’t want them to learn it on the fly and figure it out,” Flom said.
While the recordings played, the 6-month-old babies spent most of their time staring at the appropriate picture. Older babies usually made the connection instantly with their very first glance.
Study co-authors Dan Hyde and Heather Whipple Stephenson conducted the experiments as undergrads and don’t recall any babies getting upset.
“Many of them enjoyed it,” said Hyde. “Others just looked.”
“Infants are pretty cooperative subjects,” Stephenson added.
The mentored research experience helped Hyde and Stephenson secure spots at prestigious grad schools. Hyde is currently at Harvard working toward a Ph.D. in developmental psychology. Fellow co-author Heather Whipple Stephenson recently completed a master’s degree in educational psychology at the University of Minnesota.
“With this study, my favorite part was watching a somewhat zany idea grow into a legitimate research project,” Stephenson said.
Grrrr.... woof!
:-)
How about a picture of Barney Frank and a pig oinking?
This reminds me of my daughter. Before she started speaking, she would go up to the window and bark.
I don't really need to say anything more... Our tax dollars at work.
Ahh, gee...thanks. ;-)
I bark at my dogs, too... :-)
I am as tired of these baseless claims as I am the f’in mesothelioma lawsuit ads. And geico and and the Progressive gal and. . .
I have one...”Studies show that people who put out baseless studies are idiots.”
Except this study isn’t baseless.
Hey, it’s legitimate research; just because you don’t like it doesn’t affect its legitimacy one way or another. It reveals something very interesting about infant cognition we didn’t know — to the level of proof required for science — before.
What we are learning about neuroscience, human cognition, language development and brain structures is some of the best work in the history of science. That emotional recognition is tied into deep brain structures or learned easily and early, rather than being a developmental thing tells us a lot about evolution and the human condition.
The kind of anti-intellectual anti-science bent you are on is the kind of thing that conservatives need to remove from amongst them root and branch if we are ever to escape from the liberal disease, because this kind of stubborn pride in being ignorant scares a lot of people. It scares the hell out of me for one.
LOLOL! When I was on a rather extended trip some time ago, I used to call my sheltie and bark for him on the answering machine...
SO WHAT?
I agree 100% in that we need to pursue science.
Where the money for the research comes from however is a perfectly valid question.
Great picture to enjoy, a lot, before I sign off for beddy bye! :^)
No kidding, they're all so friendly and nice on commercials, until you file a claim...Then your the enemy that needs to be illuminated.
Another classless, tacky geico commercial with their worn out lizard, caveman schitch and it's mass murder.
And those with cable are paying to watch them...How sick is that?
No kidding, they're all so friendly and nice on commercials, until you file a claim...Then your the enemy that needs to be illuminated.
Another classless, tacky geico commercial with their worn out lizard, caveman schitch and it's mass murder.
And those with cable are paying to watch them...How sick is that?
Wow relax. I actually thought it was fascinating work being I have a 16 month old myself. I can relate to the story. My statement was pretty tongue and cheek.
I’m not some thumper who doesn’t believe in scientific research, I went to college in that environment just a few years ago. It’s just for every one of these studies you have 20 useless ones eating up grant money and state tax dollars.
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