Babies learn who to trust at early age

ABC Science:

You can fool them once, but babies will not be fooled again if adults trick them, according to a new Canadian study.

Infants normally mimic sounds, facial expressions and actions they observe but researchers at Concordia University in Montreal found that if an adult tricks them, they will no longer follow along with that person.

The findings published in the journal Infant Behavior and Development bolster previous evidence that infants can differentiate between credible and un-credible sources, the study says.

“Like older children, infants keep track of an individual’s history of being accurate or inaccurate and use this information to guide their subsequent learning,” says Professor Diane Poulin-Dubois, a researcher at Concordia’s department of psychology.

“Specifically, infants choose not to learn from someone who they perceive as unreliable.”

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