Babies Have More Complex Emotions 英語美文

美國一項最新研究結果則顯示，嬰兒並不像人們以前所認為的那樣“單純”，相反他們擁有複雜得多的情緒和智力。

U.S. research shows infants are much more emotionally and intellectually complex than was previously believed.

1個多世紀以來，人們一直相信，嬰兒的思維是非常簡單的，他們只會模仿周圍的'人，而且僅僅掌握着一些最基本的情緒——高興、難過和生氣。然而，美國一項最新研究結果則顯示，嬰兒並不像人們以前所認為的那樣“單純”，相反他們擁有複雜得多的情緒和智力。

據合眾社8月7日報道，研究顯示，其實早在嬰兒説出第一個詞語或是試圖坐起來之前，他們就已經掌握了複雜的情感，比如嫉妒、關懷心和受挫感等。而這些曾被人們認為是直到他們開始蹣跚學步時才能學會的。

美國華盛頓大學的心理學教授安德魯·梅爾索夫發現，大約1歲左右的嬰兒即開始通過凝視別人來推斷他們都在想些什麼。他説，這一發現可以幫助人們解釋，為何眼睛看不見的小孩子通常要比正常孩子晚一些才會説話，這些孩子的母親與她們的嬰兒之間往往缺少相互作用。

U.S. research shows infants are much more emotionally and intellectually complex than was previously believed.

For more than a century, it was believed infants were simpleminded creatures who mimicked those around them and grasped only the most basic emotions -- happy, sad and angry.

Newsweek reports in its Aug. 15 cover story, "Your Baby"s Brain," science is giving a more accurate picture of what goes on inside babies" hearts and heads.

Long before babies form their first word or attempt to sit up, they are already mastering complex emotions -- jealousy, empathy, frustration -- that were once thought to be learned much later when they are toddlers.

Andrew Meltzoff, a professor of psychology at the University of Washington, found infants at about age 1 begin to infer what others are thinking by following the gazes of others. He says this helps explain why language occurs more slowly in blind children, whose mothers tend not to interact as much with their babies.