In the first month after birth, the baby will spend much time for sleep. But do not think they are lazy. Apparently, according to a recent study, infants actually learn a lot about the social environment during sleep.
Learn baby sign, says psychologist Bethany Reeb-Sutherland from the University of Maryland, visible from the blink of her eyes while sleeping. Flicker will be faster when the baby hear soft words from his mother.
"Although babies spend much time sleeping, they are still learning about the environmental conditions, particularly the social environment," said Reeb-Sutherland. The study is published in Developmental Science, June 18th 2011.
This discovery explains how a baby can recognize the voice, especially her mother, only a few weeks after birth. "This capability is not owned by an adult," says psychologist Carolyn Rovee-Collier of Rutgers University.
In adults, sleep is believed to sharpen the memory and promote the ability to make decisions. But there was no evidence that during sleep they learn something new.
In this study, Reeb-Sutherland and his team took. example of 64 infants aged one month on average. Them, during sleep, played three types of sound, namely music, female voice says "Hi baby", and the same sound but have been recorded.
The result, 12 of 15 experiments carried out, the babies blinked when he heard a female voice says "Hi baby". Only 9 of 15 experimental infants blinked when he heard the sound of music or tapes.
Emotional distress of the mother's voice, says Reeb-Sutherland, seems to make the baby more interested in listening. He also concluded that, after hearing the words of adults, the baby will be easier to talk.
I teach my baby to blink while asleep, said psychologist Wendy Stone from the University of Washington in Seattle, could be an effective way to teach children who have problems with the environment, for example, children who suffer from autism.*** [SCIENCENEWS|FIRMAN|KORAN TEMPO 3581]
