Born Smart

One of the most unusual things that struck me soon after the birth of my first baby was how much information were available on pregnancy and birth, with little attention paid to parenting style. Deciding on a parenting style before your baby arrive will make you a more confident parent when everyone, including the dog, offer their opinion on how often you should pick your crying baby up, frequency of feeding and how long baby should be sleeping. In fact once a baby arrives there is so much advice out there on how to make things easier for a new mum, few people consider how baby might feel about all this.

An interesting study conducted on orphaned chimpanzees found when these chimpanzees were given “special mothering” they were more advanced than the average child of 9 months. Humans would play, groom, feed and interact with the infant chimpanzees 20 hours a week, the focus on emotional and physical development. They were found to be happier; more advanced and better adjusted than chimpanzees that did not receive this care.

Professor Kim Bard of the Centre for the Study of Emotion at the University of Portsmouth said, “The attachment system of infant chimpanzees appears surprisingly similar to that found in human infants. Early experiences, either of warm, responsive care-giving or of extreme deprivation, have a dramatic impact on emotional and cognitive outcomes in both chimpanzees and humans. Parental sensitivity is an important factor in human development, contributing to emotionally and cognitively strong children and it would seem the same is true for great apes, as well.”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090202140437.htm