The Insights To What Babies Want
The documentary “What Babies Want” does a great job of presenting an intelligent way to describe the importance of welcoming newborn babies and caring for them. This documentary helps to relay the message that the uses of love and respect are a very powerful tool. The research in the film provides us with the information that if a child grows up in a loving foundation then they are able to develop coherent and flexible minds.
American psychologist Harry Harlow conducted an experiment on the bond between babies and their mothers. The study focused on the effects of maternal separation and independence. Harlow series of experiments are used in seeing the bond between a mother and child. Overtime the results of the experiment showed that even though the monkeys received the nourishment that they needed from the wire mother, that they preferred to spend more time cuddling the cloth mother. So the conclusion of the experiment showed that the connection between a mother and a child is not solely based on whether or not the mother is capable of providing. From the second trial of experiments, it shows that both monkeys consume the same amount of milk from their “mothers” but the ones that grew up with the cloth showed a more emotional connection. In times of stress they will cling to the cloth mother whereas those that grew up with the wire mother rocked themselves and didn’t go to the mother for comfort. The wire mother could have been viewed as a cold, heartless object. Whereas the cloth mother could have provided more comfort and reminded them closely of a nurturing figure.
Another insight to what babies want is the strange situation experiment which is an experiment that places a child under stress. It has become one of the world’s most standardized test to assess a child attachment to their caregiver. This test shows if a child is willing to be comforted by a stranger when the mother leaves the room. In my opinion I believe that this experiment will only be valid in certain situations, due to the severity of distress the baby is presenting. Or the baby could just be friendly and be willing to go to anyone. In addition to the previous statement it all just depends on the child and the situation at hand.
Another Method is the False Belief test which is a test used to show different beliefs in children. To test this theory a child is asked what they thought was in a crayon box. Naturally the child guessed crayons, they were then showed candles. Then a stuffed animal was introduced and the adult in the room then asked the child what did the stuffed animal think was in the box and of course the child guest candles. This just goes to show that children believe that everyone sees the world from their perspective. The test was then done with older children when they realized that there could be multiple viewpoints.
The documentary as well as the short videos provided an insight to the lives of babies. Throughout the videos the audience was able to gain a better understanding towards what babies want. My perspective on tough love was changed although, throughout the videos the audience was gaining the knowledge that babies need to feel love. In watching these videos I appreciated how everything was broken down and simplified, so that it was easier to understand. From watching the videos I was able to gain a different perspective on babies. Throughout the videos as a whole there was nothing that I found myself disagreeing with, everything was very logical and filled with facts and reasonable explanations. But since these studies were done quite some time ago I would like to see how the modern baby would respond in this day and age. Seeing as we live in this day and age where technological advances are steadily on the rise, I’m curious about what would happen if an electrical device were placed in front of a baby. Would it choose the mother or a toy, both could provide comfort. So thus, the conclusion is that babies require a lot of love, and care throughout their early years of life. All babies are born with reflexes to show that they are fine that the doctors/ midwife test right after birth. In addition, studies have proven that babies are more drawn to their caregivers, and they depend on them. From watching the videos it has become quite apparent that younger children only see things from one point of view. This then changes and the child gets older and they realize that they are multiple viewpoints that can be seen.
