Somewhere in high school, most people go through a physics class. Understanding the concept of matter and its motion through space and time is a difficult concept to grasp, but a new study shows some babies are learning physics long before they ever set foot in a school.
An automatic gesture?
The majority of an adult’s everyday interactions with the world are automatic responses to physics. For example, if something falls off a table we instinctively try to catch it. Believe it or not, this is physics. (It seems little easier to understand when you’re outside of the classroom, right?) Scientists wanted to know if babies possess these same skills, or if they are learned over time.
“I think liquid is the best example of a non object that you interact with — a baby has to drink liquid every single day,” said lead author Susan J. Hespos, associate professor of psychology at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
“It’s a universal experience with milk or water. We did studies on whether babies expected water to pour or tumble from an upended cup. By five months of age, babies expect both water and sand to pour, so we have clear evidence that this type of physical knowledge is available early in development.”
How can parents improve these skills?
While some researchers believe babies have these skills at birth, there are tips and tricks that can help a baby improve these skills. Studies show breastfeeding promotes healthy brain function along with communicating with your baby.
“Natural interaction with the child, such as talking to him or her, playing peek-a-boo and allowing him or her to handle safe objects, is the best method for child development,” vanMarle said. “Natural interaction with the parent and objects in the world gives the child all the input that evolution has prepared the child to seek, accept and use to develop intuitive physics.”
