1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,117 [MUSIC] 2 00:00:01,117 --> 00:00:05,571 Psychologists used to believe that the baby human's mind was one great 3 00:00:05,571 --> 00:00:07,518 blooming buzzing confusion. 4 00:00:07,518 --> 00:00:12,344 [SOUND] But the baby human comes into the world already equipped with 5 00:00:12,344 --> 00:00:18,044 the capacity to think, reason, to learn about the world, and about itself. 6 00:00:18,044 --> 00:00:23,459 At the moment, two week old Heather lives only in the immediate world of the senses. 7 00:00:24,990 --> 00:00:28,840 Like all newborns she responds to a series of stimuli. 8 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:30,220 They have no meaning for her. 9 00:00:31,930 --> 00:00:35,550 Play of light and dark from the window captures her interest. 10 00:00:36,630 --> 00:00:40,260 Her eyesight is not developed yet so this is what she sees. 11 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:48,520 The patches on the wall seem to come alive and beckon her. 12 00:00:51,980 --> 00:00:53,030 At this young age, 13 00:00:53,030 --> 00:00:58,060 Heather has already embarked on the huge task of making sense of her surroundings. 14 00:00:59,730 --> 00:01:02,860 Now her eyes turn to the bars of her crib. 15 00:01:02,860 --> 00:01:07,373 They look like thick stripes, just the right size is for her eyes to discern. 16 00:01:07,373 --> 00:01:08,894 [MUSIC] 17 00:01:08,894 --> 00:01:10,956 >> [SOUND] >> But 18 00:01:10,956 --> 00:01:15,400 what the baby human responds to most of all is the human face. 19 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:22,570 Heather is gazing at the most important face she's encountered so far. 20 00:01:22,570 --> 00:01:26,980 At 12 inches what she see's are mainly contrasts of light and 21 00:01:26,980 --> 00:01:31,420 dark, where the features are. 22 00:01:31,420 --> 00:01:34,910 But her clearest view is from six inches away, 23 00:01:34,910 --> 00:01:40,340 an easy distance to communicate love between mother and child. 24 00:01:41,950 --> 00:01:45,250 It seems nature has prepared the baby human from birth 25 00:01:45,250 --> 00:01:48,900 to pay attention to the face, as if saying look carefully. 26 00:01:49,900 --> 00:01:54,500 Something that looks like this is going to be very important for your survival. 27 00:01:54,500 --> 00:01:57,650 >> Hi there, okay are you all set? 28 00:01:57,650 --> 00:02:01,928 >> A Daphne Maurer's Lab, Terry Louise is part of a group studying the phenomenon of 29 00:02:01,928 --> 00:02:05,588 this attraction and how it develops in the first three months of life. 30 00:02:05,588 --> 00:02:07,423 >> Here we go, are you ready? 31 00:02:07,423 --> 00:02:11,310 >> Ten day old Dylan is shown a card with two images on it. 32 00:02:11,310 --> 00:02:15,830 The right side has three blobs representing the rudimentary configuration 33 00:02:15,830 --> 00:02:17,380 of the human face. 34 00:02:17,380 --> 00:02:19,287 The left has the blobs inverted. 35 00:02:19,287 --> 00:02:21,424 >> Good looking. 36 00:02:21,424 --> 00:02:22,945 Very good. 37 00:02:22,945 --> 00:02:27,287 >> Dylan is drawn to the image that resembles the human face. 38 00:02:27,287 --> 00:02:30,108 But what is it that he's attracted to? 39 00:02:30,108 --> 00:02:33,266 >> Careful, I might trick you. 40 00:02:33,266 --> 00:02:36,029 >> To find out they show Dylan another card. 41 00:02:36,029 --> 00:02:38,305 >> Okay, are you all set? 42 00:02:38,305 --> 00:02:43,235 >> One side has the blurry image of a face and the other side was created to 43 00:02:43,235 --> 00:02:47,780 represent only the light and dark contrasts of a face. 44 00:02:47,780 --> 00:02:52,460 Dylan prefers to look at the side with a contrast of a face, which indicates 45 00:02:52,460 --> 00:02:56,740 that its not the features themselves that the baby human reads at this age, but 46 00:02:56,740 --> 00:03:00,090 the areas of contrast created by those features. 47 00:03:01,150 --> 00:03:05,798 So what two week old, Heather is really fascinated with is the contrast 48 00:03:05,798 --> 00:03:10,917 between light and shadow created by her mother's eyes, mouth and hairline. 49 00:03:10,917 --> 00:03:11,695 >> Who's there? 50 00:03:11,695 --> 00:03:13,831 >> But she doesn't know yet what they mean. 51 00:03:13,831 --> 00:03:18,974 Back at the lab, six-week old Devon is shown the same card. 52 00:03:18,974 --> 00:03:21,263 >> How about these guys now? 53 00:03:21,263 --> 00:03:25,884 >> Unlike Dylan, he turns to the image that looks more like a face. 54 00:03:25,884 --> 00:03:29,085 The other image no longer interests him. 55 00:03:29,085 --> 00:03:33,631 So, what happened in those four short weeks that separate Heather and Devin? 56 00:03:33,631 --> 00:03:35,210 [MUSIC] 57 00:03:35,210 --> 00:03:39,269 Researchers believe that this is when the baby humans' higher brain centers, 58 00:03:39,269 --> 00:03:42,070 which are sensitive divisional stimuli, take over. 59 00:03:43,260 --> 00:03:46,072 And that is what's directing Devin's gaze and 60 00:03:46,072 --> 00:03:48,399 begins to give meaning to what he sees. 61 00:03:48,399 --> 00:03:52,548 At the same time other regions of the higher brain centers 62 00:03:52,548 --> 00:03:56,970 are preparing the baby human to think and reason. 63 00:03:56,970 --> 00:04:01,010 These exceptional capacities are what set human apart from the rest 64 00:04:01,010 --> 00:04:02,050 of the animal kingdom. 65 00:04:03,540 --> 00:04:05,020 Gaven is eight weeks. 66 00:04:06,250 --> 00:04:08,500 As he begins to interact with his environment, 67 00:04:08,500 --> 00:04:11,000 the world around him takes on new meaning. 68 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,015 He looks at his mother with new eyes. 69 00:04:16,015 --> 00:04:20,950 >> [INAUDIBLE] >> During these critical early weeks, 70 00:04:20,950 --> 00:04:24,360 new neural pathways in the brain are forged. 71 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:29,100 The more things the baby human sees, the more this ability surges. 72 00:04:34,930 --> 00:04:38,800 At two months of age, this is what Gavin's world looks like to him. 73 00:04:44,570 --> 00:04:50,460 His life thus far has been a kaleidoscope of sights, sounds, sensations, and smells. 74 00:04:53,410 --> 00:04:56,470 But he's now beginning to make connections between them. 75 00:04:56,470 --> 00:04:58,780 >> Let's get this all changed for you. 76 00:04:58,780 --> 00:05:01,730 >> He suddenly realized a remarkable thing. 77 00:05:03,650 --> 00:05:04,920 >> There you go, all clean. 78 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,820 >> That the sound of the voice and the moving lips of his mother are related. 79 00:05:09,890 --> 00:05:11,270 >> Good boy. 80 00:05:11,270 --> 00:05:14,656 >> For the first time, he can put together sight and sound. 81 00:05:14,656 --> 00:05:17,617 [MUSIC] 82 00:05:17,617 --> 00:05:20,700 Out of the chaotic flow of impressions, 83 00:05:20,700 --> 00:05:24,698 he slowly realizes that the world isn't one thing. 84 00:05:24,698 --> 00:05:30,010 He now begins to distinguish the amazing world of objects.