A new study has found that toddlers' brains are far more advanced than what most people thought. Researchers have found that 7-month-old babies have basic social skills and they can also understand the social interactions of their parents.
The research involved testing 36 seven-month-old babies, according to Daily Mail. Each infant wore a cap that used EEG to measure activities in the brain.
Each baby observed an actor choose one of the two toys provided in the procedural exam. Right after, the baby was allowed to choose one of the two toys.
Neuroscientist and developmental psychologists observed how infants' brains processed the actor's actions. After the procedure was repeated for 12 times, the brain activity in babies predicted how they would respond to the actor's behavior.
When infants used their motor system to observe which toy the actor was grabbing, they chose the same toy. But when no engagement of the motor system was detected in the baby's brain activity, the baby did not choose the same toy.
The study is the first evidence that proves a direct link between neural responses from the motor system and the overt social behaviors of infants. Motor system recruitment is also linked to infants 'social interactive behavior, according to Courtney Filippi, lead author and a Developmental Psychology doctoral candidate from the University of Chicago.
The research shows that babies begin to understand that people act intentionally such as choosing one toy over the other. This understanding shows that a baby does not just see another person's action, but it also involved the baby's own motor system.
At seven months old, babies also start to become emotionally attached to their parents and become wary of unfamiliar people, according to Baby Center. This also proves that a baby's socialization skills become more apparent at seven months.
There is a direct connection between observing people, understand what people are doing and learning how to act, according to Amanda Woodward co-author of the study from the University of Chicago. Fundamentally, researchers also pinpointed the neural processes that contribute to the intelligent social behavior of infants during the study.
