Crawling Over a Cliff?

March 16, 2010

By Amy McCampbell

Last year, the Sears Tower (or, as it’s known by its new name, the Willis Tower) unveiled a glass balcony on its 103rd floor. Visitors get to creep about four feet out from the building…and 1,353 feet high above the city of Chicago.

Some of us on the Mind in the Making team were talking about and just how much it reminded us of an experiment we filmed, UC Berkeley Professor Joe Campos’ Visual Cliff. In it, a baby is placed on a large box that’s covered by a piece of clear plexi-glass. Halfway across, there’s what looks like a drop, though it’s clearly safe to cross thanks to the sturdy platform. On the opposite side of the platform is the baby’s mom, either making a smiling face (signaling to the baby that it’s okay to cross), or a fearful face (which tells the baby to stay put).

You can watch the experiment here.

The experiment is so powerful… you can really see the babies reading their parents to try to figure out what to do.

If you’re around kids, you see this phenomenon all the time. A child falls, and then looks up to an adult to see how they’re supposed to react. Calm adult, calm(er) child. Hysterical adult… well, you can imagine.

Professor Campos’ experiment is with babies, but I frequently have these experiences with my four-year-old daughter. Just yesterday, we were at the beach where the waves were pretty rough, so all she could do was play along the surf. She started off being hesitant to go near the churning water, but eventually felt confident enough to creep closer – but not before she looked back to get a read from me about what she could and couldn’t do. The nervous mother in me wanted her to stay on the dry sand, but I knew that it was a wonderful and safe (her dad and I were right there if anything should happen) way to enjoy the ocean, so I made my face reflect a sense of security.

She’s getting older and her forays into independence come more and more frequently. And since I want to protect her, it’s indeed a stressful time for me. But I have to let her try new things… and as long as she keeps looking back to get my approval, I’ll be okay.

Now, I just wonder who there is to look to on top of the Sears Tower to let you know it’s safe!

Share your stories us about how your child decodes your ‘emotional readout.’

Amy McCampbell is a producer at New Screen Concepts.

Comments

Stephanie May 29, 2010

The infant I am caring for as a nanny is learning each day. She has a new excercise saucer. She still needs an adult to give her back support and is probably a few weeks from being able to use the excercise saucer herslef, since she has never been upright without the help of an adult before.

The parents and I are letting her try out the exercise saucer just a few minutes each day with support of blankets rolled behind her and our hands and arms for support. It’s so funny. She is still very worried and continuously looking up for either her parents, or my, reaction. She seems to be asking with her worried looks, “Are you sure this is okay?” She coos with excitment and joy if she sees we are excited when she discovers she can hit a button and make music, or touch a panda and make him swing.

But, if she looks up for a split second to see if we are taking good care of her in her new toy and my eyes don’t greet hers, she cries uncontrolably and I must remove her immediately.

I also teach her older brothers that speaking to their baby sister is the same as talking to a pet. At this point it doesn’t matter as much as WHAT you say to her but HOW you say it. If you communicate saying you love her while frowning and looking mad, she will begin to cry. If we say something mean like she’s ugly (which of course we don’t) but with a huge grin and happy tone in our voice she’ll laugh with glee and want to play some more.

Great experiment and great example Amy of how communicating with children shapes what they do and how they feel.

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Kali Kurdy June 01, 2011

I saw this experiment on a video I used to show in Sociology when I taught it. It was an explanation of Erickson’s Trust-Distrust stage. I am always amazed at what we communicate through our body language. Kids certainly do not get lessons on interpreting someone’s body language in school. The lessons are typically learned the hard way at home and on the playground.

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