From The Mouths of Babes: Study Finds That Babies Copy The Most “Reliable” Adults

Ever marvel at how your baby mimicked your spouse? Now you know that the baby was not just copying your spouse but rejecting you as “unreliable.” A new study of behavior in babies found that they sized up parents and adults before choosing who to copy — rejecting some as not credible or reliable.

The study involved watching 60 babies over 16 months — that is a lot of diapers but what they found was pretty incredible. If an adult has previously displayed unreliable or dishonest behavior, the study found babies tended not to copy that adult’s mannerisms and speech. The unreliable experimenters in the study did things like give babies a box to explore and the babies found the box was empty. The reliable experimenters were able to get the babies to tun on a push light with their foreheads instead of their hands.

I wonder which of the presidential candidates would be mimicked by a baby? That could be finally a way of sorting out the pack.

Of course, now 30 people will go through life turning on lights and televisions with their foreheads.

Source: LiveScience as first seen on Reddit

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