Wavelengths Linked to Empathy Development

The language that mothers employ to coo at their babies tend to make them more empathetic, says a new study by psychologists at the University of York. Whatever specific language mothers use helps the kids to understand the thoughts of others when they grow up, according to futurity.

"These findings show how a mother's ability to tune-in to her baby's thoughts and feelings early on helps her child to learn to empathise with the mental lives of other people," said lead author Elizabeth Kirk, lecturer at the University of York's Department of Psychology.

Scientists studied the effects of "maternal mind-mindedness", or the ability to 'tune in' to their baby's thoughts and feelings by observing 40 mothers and their babies that were 10, 12, 16, and 20 months old.

They watched the parental language used by the mother and child playing for 10 minutes. Psychologists noted the "mind related comments" or "inferences about their child's thought processes" that were clear through their behavior. Hence, an infant that showed difficulty with opening a door on a toy car, seemed 'frustrated'.

They revisited 15 mother-child pairs when the children came to five or six years in age. They noted the child's Theory of Mind (ToM) or socio-cognitive ability.

By going through the 'strange stories' method, they were able to note down the the level at which the child was able relate and understand others. This method called for reading a "fictional vignette" that exhibited one out of 12 social scenarios, including "contrary emotions, lies, white lies, persuasion, pretend, joke, forget, misunderstanding, double-bluff, figure of speech, appearance versus reality or sarcasm."

They then asked a question and then posed a test to check whether they "understood the mental manipulation covered in the story."

The scientists found a very positive link between "mind-related comments" at 10, 12 and 20 months old and the "strange stories task," according to financialexpress.

"These results are significant as they demonstrate the critical role of conversational interaction between mothers and their children in infancy," Kirk said.

Hence, the more mind-minded the mothers were with their babies, the more the children could relate to the thoughts of other people at the age of 5, found the researchers.

 "This has important consequences for the child's social development, equipping children to understand what other people might be thinking or feeling," she said.