Before Liam was born, my mom got us a subscription to Growing Child. If you haven’t already heard about this newsletter/reference it’s really fantastic and very helpful to any parent (not just first-timers like Matt and me). Anyway–the other day Matt was talking to me about something he read in the latest e-newsletter we got–a process called habituation. Here’s how Growing Child defines it:
“Habituation occurs when an infant, after being repeatedly exposed to the same stimulus, eventually loses interest in that stimulus. For example, if a baby is placed in a room where there is occasional loud noise (such as the sound of traffic) the baby will at first become startled every time loud noises occur until she eventually becomes “habituated” to those noises and therefore won’t pay any attention to them. She will only exhibit a startle response when she is exposed to a new, unfamiliar noise, such as an ambulance siren. ”
Matt theorized that this is the reason that Liam doesn’t listen me when I call his name anymore–clearly he’s decided that only new noises are interesting and has moved on (which does appear to be true). Liam is very quick to figure out a new noise, toy, or sensation and then after he’s figured it out he’s finished with it and moves on to newer, more exciting things (like playing in the oven). Then Matt went on to explain this part:
“The speed with which habituation takes place has been found to be related to later IQ scores. When the habituation rate of 4-month-old babies was tested, for example, it was found that those who habituated the soonest had higher IQ scores and better language development when tested again at 3 and 4 years of age.”
Matt decided that this clearly means that Liam’s a genius and of course I agreed, but now I have a question: Does quick habituation to something (say the sound of the full recycling bin crashing to the floor in calliope fashion–which the first time causes fearful crying, the second time elicited a shriek, and from then on has resulted in no acknowledgement that a large bin of glass and plastic is now all over the floor) mean that he’s got a high IQ which is mitigated by the fact that he continues to repeat the action over and over, thus proving that he’s insane (doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result) or does it simply mean that he’s some sort of a habituation savant and that he’s actually not too bright?
Shannon – Your stories are hilarious. You should have your own column – which I guess you do. But maybe you could get paid for it somehow?!
Thanks! I think I’m just doing (in my own way) what Matt always tries to do–which is to take memories that aren’t quite so pleasant and look back on them fondly sooner rather than later. But–you can always pay me if you want to.