How Babies Display Human Evolution
I recently attended a lecture on evolution. Some of what the professor said seemed believable to me but I often had a hard time believing that in the battle of nurture v.s nature, nurture did not trump. I always thought that my character traits, my fears, my taste in food, my behavior--everything that makes me me--were things that I picked up from my parents, from my teachers, from my peers etc. I guess that's because it's tough to observe evolution taking place in adults. That is why I decided to study the one living being whose behaviors have not yet been influenced by its environment: a baby
Analyze facial expressions: A person who has been attacked by a dog has a logical fear of dogs. But, you'll notice that a baby can look at a growling dog and recognize danger. If a dog growls or barks, a baby will instantly begin crying. A baby can comprehend the noises a dog makes as well as its facial expressions and can identify aggression and danger.
Learn cause and effect: You might have come across the psychological term "negative reinforcement" at some point. The concept is simple: you reward someone for a negative behavior. A prime incidence of this is when a parent gives their baby a kiss, a bottle or some form of treats the moment the baby begins to cry. The parent's intentions are to make the baby stop crying;to remove the crying—but what is really happening is the parent is sending the baby signals that crying is a good thing. The baby understands that his cries are the cause of the bottle/hug/treat. You'll see that when a parent gives a baby a treat, he tends to cry more.
Crave fats: In a culture saturated in food around every corner, we have had to learn to curb our cravings for sugar and fats. We can train our taste buds to like more healthful food. A baby doesn't know that fat-loaded food can be detrimental to his health, or that produce has tons of benefits, so so you will notice that babies often prefer fatty food.
Sing: A movie about vocal techniques on The Singing Zone brings up the fact that babies already are little singers and I thought to myself, that is absolutely right! Before they can speak actual words, babies do know how to use different notes and tones to convey emotions, which is exactly what singing does.
About the Author
Julia Austin is a healthy living, luxury lifestyle, travel and dating writer. Her articles on everything from skinny cocktail menus to online dating horror stories and even unique ways of improving one's voice like with http://www.thesingingzone.com/ and becoming a better singer have been featured on dozens of sites.
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