August 19, 2009
NYTimes, Sunday the 15th of August – Your Baby is Smarter Than You Think
Your Baby Is Smarter Than You Think
By Alison Gopnik
Published: August 15, 2009, NY Times, Week in Review Section
Berkeley, Calif.
Generations of psychologists and philosophers have believed that babies and young children were basically defective adults — irrational, egocentric and unable to think logically. The philosopher John Locke saw a baby’s mind as a blank slate, and the psychologist William James thought they lived in a “blooming, buzzing confusion.” Even today, a cursory look at babies and young children leads many to conclude that there is not much going on.
New studies, however, demonstrate that babies and very young children know, observe, explore, imagine and learn more than we would ever have thought possible. In some ways, they are smarter than adults.