U of R Researcher Gaining National Attention for "Goldilocks Effect"

Babies are small, cute, curious and University of Rochester researchers in the baby lab just proved they're smarter than you think.

"It suggests that infants are more actively involved in the process of taking info from the environment than I think people give them credit for," U of R Researcher Celeste Kidd said.

Kidd is a graduate student at U of R and helped discover the "Goldilocks effect" which is now gaining national attention.

They proved babies only pay attention to things that aren't too simple or too difficult, but "just right' for them to learn.

It's not a new idea but Kidd and other researchers were the first to prove the "Goldilocks Effect" by studying 72 babies between 7 and 8 months old.

They used eye-tracking devices to determine when a baby became bored or uninterested.

Researchers also hope out will help them determine if a child has developmental delays early on like ADHD and autism.

"It also is important for developing development diagnostic tools and therapies for children who have abnormal attention downfall to understand how a normal attention span works," she said.

Kidd hopes the effect will also help older children and adults.

So all children get the tools that are "just right" for helping them learn. 

In the future, Kidd plans to hold more studies to see if the effect is true for older children as well as animals.