Tyler, age 9 months, has discovered the power of the remote. He seems to understand that there is a connection between
pressing buttons on the remote control and operating the TV. He has recently started asking for the remote, and once it is
in his hand he presses the buttons. His face lights up with a smile of joy as he sees the pictures changing on the TV screen.
Sarah, age six months, loves being in the bathtub. Lying on her back, supported by her mother, she studies the effect of her
movements on the water. She particularly loves to kick her legs and is fascinated when she sees the water churning and splashing
in all directions. From time to time she stops to rest. Once the spell breaks, she starts a new "storm", and bursts out laughing as
her mother gets sprayed.
Early Learners
These babies are beginning to understand the connection between cause and
effect. They see that there is a connection between their actions and the world around
them, and are beginning to realize that they can make interesting things happen. This connection is deeply established around the age of eighteen
months, but babies have many earlier opportunities to examine it.
Think for example of the following causal sequence: your hungry baby is crying bitterly. Suddenly, a breast or bottle arrives and provides him
with the thing he most wants -- milk. On another occasion, he cries, and Mommy's warm embrace is enough to stop his tears. After many such moments -
when he gives an involuntary signal and you respond -- your baby will start to pay attention to the sequence of events. He will learn how to get you
to do what he wants. These are the first seeds of understanding of the connection between cause and effect.
An experiment conducted on six-month-old babies demonstrated their ability to grasp this connection. Two billiard balls were filmed for the
experiment. One ball was tossed and collided with the other ball, causing the second ball to move due to the impact of the collision. This sequence of
images was screened to the babies and they watched it repeatedly, until they became bored and stopped looking.
Then, there was a change. The babies were shown the same two balls - only this time the first ball stopped some distance away from the second ball.
Despite the fact that the first ball had never touched it, the second ball moved. The babies seemed surprised when they watched the new sequence of events,
and appeared to understand that it was illogical.
Baby Investigates
As this understanding of the connection between cause and effect deepens, baby becomes a true experimenter and investigator.
She begins to examine the details of events carefully and anticipates the results even before they happen. Watch a seven or eight month old
baby playing with a toy. She holds the toy, moves it, pulls it, tries to squash it, and does many other things to it so she can see what happens.
If she gets obvious results from a toy she will try repeatedly to manipulate it, increasing her understanding of the connection between an action and
its effect.
This developing ability helps baby understand laws governing the various events she observes in her environment. This important intellectual achievement
helps her plan her actions, allowing her to gain more control of her behavior. Understanding the connection between cause and effect gives her a greater
understanding of her world. It also increases her desire to explore, and to learn the logic that is the basis of the things she sees, hears, and feels.
Helping Your Baby Understand Cause and Effect
Here are some things you can do to help your baby along in understanding cause and effect:
- Be consistent in your behavior with him. If you react differently each time he performs the same behavior, your baby will find it difficult to understand the logic behind your response. The clearer, more consistent,
and more predictable his world is, the easier it will be for him to understand the connection between cause and effect.
- When he is about three months old you will begin to notice that your baby is using his voice to call you. Each time you answer his call you strengthen his feeling that he can make you react,
helping to validate his understanding of cause and effect.
- When your baby is around three to four months old, try laying her on her back on an activity gym with toys hanging overhead. Her hand movements will gradually change - from random to deliberate and controlled - as she learns how to kick and shake the toys hanging over her.
This will help establish the connection in her brain between what her body is doing and what she sees around her.
- From the age of six months, your baby will be able to enjoy activity centers.
Activity centers are toys with which your baby performs various activities and receives unambiguous feedback about his actions.
For example, when your baby pulls a handle, a tune plays, when he manipulates fabric, a rustling sound is produced, and when he
presses a button, a cute little figure pops up from a box. These unmistakable and interesting results will encourage baby to try
again and again, deepening his understanding of cause and effect.
- At a slightly older age, around eight to nine months, your baby will be able to understand the connection between action and result even when there is a gap between the two
events -- when the cause is in one place and the event in another. For example, she will understand that pressing the remote control
activates the T.V., and will see that pressing a button on her toy causes a figure on the other side of the toy to move.
- You will be able to create play situations for your baby where she can plan her actions. For example, place a cloth diaper within arm's reach and on
the far corner from her place a toy (on the diaper). Encourage her to practice reaching for the toy. Gradually she will understand that if she
pulls the diaper toward her she will be able to move the toy close enough to touch. This helps her learn to plan her moves in order to make things happen.
- Try to draw your baby's attention to all kinds of sequences of cause and effect. Explain the sequence to her in words. For example: "you?ve got a poopy diaper, so I'm changing you," "I've pulled the bath plug and now the water is disappearing," "You're hungry. You're drinking milk and getting full".
- Make a habit of allowing your child to explore his environment so that he can see the results of his actions.
Understanding the connection between cause and effect is an important achievement, a milestone in a baby's intellectual development.
Imagine how difficult it was for your child to be in a situation of uncertainty, in a world in which things happen without rhyme or reason.
In the past months, you have helped introduce logic into her life. She will gradually learn to make connections between things that happen,
and will also begin to anticipate future events. This will make her world more understandable, more predictable, and more enjoyable