Toddlers aged 16 to 18 months expect leaders like parents and teachers to act
when someone breaks the rules, a study of 120 children suggests.
It
shows that before they can form sentences, children not only understand right
and wrong but the role of those in charge to enforce them.
Researchers tested toddlers’ using a teddy bears’ puppet show where a
‘wrongdoer’ bear took all the toys for herself and did not share.
When
the ‘leader’ bear failed to punish this misdemeanour, the young children stared
at the scene for longer - which they do when they see something unexpected.
But
when the leader intervened to give the bear that had missed out a toy, the
children looked away about nine seconds sooner, showing events had proceeded
just as they thought they should.
Psychology professor Renee Baillargeon, who led the study from the University of
Illinois, said: ‘Infants stared longer when the leader ignored the wrongdoing
than when she rectified it.
‘This
suggests that infants expected the leader to intervene and right the wrong in
her group, and were surprised when she took no such action.’
Children realised which was the leader in the bear show after that puppet told
two other bears to face forward or backwards and they did so.
Next
the leader brought two toys for the bears to share, with the wrongdoer bear
grabbing both for herself so the victim bear lost out.
When
the leader bear took the toy back from the wrongdoer and gave it to the victim,
the children in the study looked at this for almost 10 seconds. But when the
leader failed to act, approaching the bears but not taking a toy back, they
showed apparent surprise by staring for nearly 20 seconds.
Experts now believe children are hardwired to expect leaders to administer
justice, probably due to our caveman days when we had to work together to find
food and shelter and it was vital the leader cracked down on anyone acting
selfishly.
The
same pattern was repeated in a puppet show where the leader bear was
one-and-a-half times taller and had a top hat to show they were in charge.
When
the bears were equals, with no leader and no action in response to wrongdoing,
toddlers looked for a shorter time.
In a
third experiment, where a bear said ‘no, thanks’ to the toys, making it
acceptable for the second bear to take both, most people would not expect a
leader to intervene. Indeed, toddlers were surprised and looked longer if the
leader took action in this circumstance.
This
suggests they only expect action when someone has done something morally wrong.
The
study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
concludes: ‘By the second year of life, infants thus already ascribe unique
responsibilities to leaders, including that of righting wrongs.’
Via Daily Mail