Science
According to a recent study by scientists from Concordia University, young children as early as 18 months can tell by a person's facial expression whether he is lying.
Psychologists Sabrina Chiarella and Diane Poulin-Dubois have shown that babies can tell if a person is lying by comparing their actions to facial expressions.
“Our research has shown that children can't be fooled into believing that what leads to unpleasant feelings can be good,” they said.
Adults often “wear” a smile to hide subsequent unpleasant moments from children. But starting at about 18 months, babies begin to understand what facial expression is related to what action.”
For the study, the researchers selected 92 children aged 15 to 18 months. In the laboratory, the children watched the actions of the actor, who showed several pantomimes. In his roles, he demonstrated emotions related or unrelated to his actions.
In one pantomime, the actor showed a disgruntled face when he picked up his favorite toy, and in another he depicted pain after pretending to hurt his finger.
Emotions in a child's life
Children aged 15 months did not react much to the proposed scenarios, expressing pity whenever they saw a sad face on the actor's face. This proves that the ability to connect the emotions and actions of others is not innate — we begin to develop it at a certain age.
Children as young as 18 months showed clear signs that they understand when they are being deceived into showing emotions that are not related to a particular action.
They spent more time studying the actor's face, then comparing it several times to the reaction of someone who usually looks after them – in other words, they consulted with a trusted source.
Also, children of this age showed pity only when the actor's expression coincided with his action, i.e. it was sad only if he hurt his finger, for example.
Scientists are now trying to find out if children can express a desire to help someone they don't really trust, and whether they will learn from such a person.
The study and its results were published in Infancy: The Official Journal of the International Society on Infant Studies.
The development of emotions in children
Until the baby is 4 months old, mostly negative emotions predominate.
Only after 4-5 months do children develop other emotions, especially those aimed at positive emotions. At the sight of the mother, the child begins to show joy – to smile or stop crying.
At this age, children develop positive emotions, which are mainly aimed at who cares for them more time.
At 7 months, the baby begins to get in the mood. It is worth noting that until this age, a child's emotions depend on certain actions and situations. For example, if the mother is in a good mood, then the child himself can show positive emotions.
At 1.5 years old, the child begins to be deliberately offended.
At 2 years old, children are already able to recognize and experience several social types of emotions: envy, jealousy, surprise. At this age, a child can, for example, feel sorry for someone if he sees and feels that the person feels bad.
The development of emotions in preschoolers
At the age of 3, children feel proud of their achievements. The child shows a desire to do things on his own, often says “me” and feels happy when the result is successful.
At the age of 4, the emotion of friendship begins to appear. At this age, children are already aware of themselves and are interested not only in other babies, but also trying to establish contact with them and find common interests.
At 5-6 years old, many children already have a full range of emotions, they can talk about them and answer how they feel in a given situation.