Genius Baby!

Friday's UMD infant study was based on the premise that by 12 months, babies have learned to use tools (such as pulling on a towel to reach the toy on the other end).

As with the previous studies we have been involved with, the researcher explained what they would be doing: She would put a toy on the far end of a piece of cloth and watch whether Abby would pull it to reach the toy. Then, she would model the activity a couple times and give Abby the opportunity to try again. And finally, we would watch another researcher repeatedly choose one toy over another by pulling a cloth to reach it. (This part I didn't understand, but they videotaped Abby's responses and I couldn't see her face since she was sitting on my lap.)

Well, when the researcher put the first toy on the cloth, Abby looked at her, then at the toy and pulled it toward herself to grab the little green frog! She used several different textures of cloth and alternated between the little green frog and a little yellow duck. Each time Abby pulled the cloth and grabbed the toy! But I think she became suspicious after a while because the researcher kept taking the toy away to reset it. "Why should I grab the toy if you're just going to take it away?"

All babies learn to do this by the time they are a year old, but Abby did this last week! Our Genius Baby!