Kuala Lumpur, March 18- A baby laugh can make even the saddest man smile. But none of us has stopped to think about why babies laugh.
Dr Caspar Addyman, a research fellow at London Birkbeck University’s Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development – or the BabyLab as it has been dubbed, is overseeing one of the biggest studies into what makes babies laugh, and why.
Explaining the significance of his project, Dr Addyman told Daily Mail: “Understanding babies also helps us understand adults. Babies are little scientists. They are discovering the world and through them we can discover a great deal, too.”
Dr Addyman, a banker turned psychologist who doesn’t have any children, is funding the research himself. He’s created a detailed questionnaire for parents, as well as asking them to send in videos and short reports of what makes their babies laugh.
So far, 1,400 parents from 25 countries have answered questions ranging from whether their baby was more likely to laugh at a particular time of day to which toys and nursery rhymes they found the funniest.
“Ninety per cent of babies have smiled in the first two months and laughed just a few weeks after that,” he said, adding, “Equally, a small number reported their baby didn’t laugh at all for the first 12 months. This suggests babies have a range of temperaments that are present from early on.”
However, it’s the boys who seem to have the biggest sense of humour, with parents reporting their sons laughed nearly 50 times a day in contrast to a mere 37 for daughters.
But the biggest find of the research so far is this: “Laughter is foremost a social thing. You laugh in company,” Dr Addyman says, adding, “One of the clearest bits of evidence we’ve found is that it is not necessarily what you are doing, but the fact you are present with your baby that’s important – that is why they are happy.”
Maintaining that in the first year, smiles and tears are a baby’s only way of communicating, Dr. Addyman says, “Crying is a signal they want something to change, while smiling or laughter is the opposite – it says keep doing what you’re doing.”
-Indiatoday
