嬰兒愿意放棄食物，表明利他主義從嬰兒期就開始了

嬰兒愿意放棄食物，表明利他主義從嬰兒期就開始了

Picture this: a 19-month-old hungry baby picks up a delicious snack, but instead of gobbling it up gives it to an adult who appears to want it, too.

想象一下:一個19個月大的饑餓嬰兒拿起一份美味的點(diǎn)心，但他沒有狼吞虎咽地吃完，而是把它給了一個看起來也想吃的成年人。

Now imagine dozens of different babies of the same age doing the same. And that's exactly what happened during a study published Tuesday that tests the beginnings of altruism in humans.

現(xiàn)在想象一下幾十個相同年齡的嬰兒在做同樣的事情。而這正是周二發(fā)表的一項(xiàng)研究中所發(fā)生的，該研究測試了人類利他主義的起源。

The babies "looked longingly at the fruit, and then they gave it away!" said Andrew Meltzoff, co-director of the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington, in a statement. "We think this captures a kind of baby-sized version of altruistic helping."

華盛頓大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)與腦科學(xué)研究所聯(lián)合主任安德魯·梅爾佐夫在一份聲明中說，這些嬰兒“渴望地看著這些水果，然后就把它們給了別人!”“我們認(rèn)為這捕捉到了一種嬰兒大小的利他主義幫助。”

Meltzoff and his team studied nearly 100 babies who were 19 months old, a time when many babies are starting to have temper tantrums, especially when told no, according to the American Academy of Pediatricians (PDF). This is also the age that babies are likely to hit, bite or scratch others when denied what they want.

根據(jù)美國兒科醫(yī)生學(xué)會(PDF)的數(shù)據(jù)，梅爾佐夫和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)研究了近100名19個月大的嬰兒，這是許多嬰兒開始發(fā)脾氣的時候，特別是在被告知不的時候。這也是嬰兒在被拒絕自己想要的東西時可能會打、咬或抓別人的年齡。

When does altruism begin?

利他主義何時開始?

Food sharing among adult nonhuman primates, such as chimpanzees, is rare, studies show.When they do, it appears to be among close relatives, or when they think it will benefit them by strengthening relationships with other chimps outside their inner circle.

研究表明，成年的非人類靈長類動物，如黑猩猩，很少分享食物。當(dāng)他們這樣做的時候，似乎是在近親之間，或者當(dāng)他們認(rèn)為這樣做可以通過加強(qiáng)與其他黑猩猩的關(guān)系而使自己受益的時候。

Yet humans often respond to hungry people, whether it's through food banks, fundraisers or sharing their snack or lunch.

然而，人類通常會對饑餓的人做出反應(yīng)，無論是通過食物銀行、籌款活動，還是分享他們的零食或午餐。

"We adults help each other when we see another in need, and we do this even if there is a cost to the self. So we tested the roots of this in infants," said lead author Rodolfo Cortes Barragan, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, in a statement.

主要作者魯?shù)婪?middot;科爾特斯·巴拉甘是學(xué)習(xí)與腦科學(xué)研究所的博士后研究員，他在一份聲明中表示：“當(dāng)我們成年人看到別人需要幫助時，我們會相互幫助，即使這會損害我們自己。所以我們在嬰兒身上測試了這一點(diǎn)的根源。”

Using baby fruit favorites such as blueberries, bananas and grapes, the study tested whether the infants would spontaneously, without being asked, give their food to a total stranger.

這項(xiàng)研究使用嬰兒最喜歡的水果，如藍(lán)莓、香蕉和葡萄，測試嬰兒是否會在沒有詢問的情況下自發(fā)地把食物給一個完全陌生的人。

Babies gave even when hungry

嬰兒即使在饑餓的時候也會給予

A second experiment was set up with a different group of 19-month-old babies. In this case, the babies were tested at their snack or meal time, when they were typically hungry. This, researchers thought, would raise the stakes and impact the motivation of the children to keep the fruit for themselves.

第二個實(shí)驗(yàn)是在另一組19個月大的嬰兒身上進(jìn)行的。在這種情況下，嬰兒在他們通常饑餓的零食或用餐時間進(jìn)行測試。研究人員認(rèn)為，這會增加賭注，影響孩子們把水果留給自己的動機(jī)。

The babies in the control group did just that. But 37% of the test group who believed the adult was hungry picked up the fruit and gave it away.

對照組的嬰兒就是這么做的。但37%的認(rèn)為成年人餓了的試驗(yàn)組人拿起水果并將其贈送出去。

However, said psychologist Mark Strauss, who directs the Infant and Toddler Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh, "we really don't know that the differential behavior between the two groups has to do with food. It could be that the toddlers recognize in the 'begging condition' that the adult didn't want to drop and they are being helpful.

然而，匹茲堡大學(xué)嬰幼兒發(fā)展中心主任、心理學(xué)家馬克·施特勞斯說:“我們真的不知道這兩組嬰兒的不同行為與食物有關(guān)。這可能是因?yàn)橛變涸?ldquo;乞討狀態(tài)”中意識到大人并不想放棄，而他們正在提供幫助。

"Finally, given that the children may not have been hungry," said Strauss, who was not involved in the study, "there really is no evidence that the children are being altruistic, but rather just being helpful."

“最后，考慮到孩子們可能并不餓，”斯特勞斯說，他沒有參與這項(xiàng)研究，“確實(shí)沒有證據(jù)表明孩子們是利他的，而只是樂于助人。”

What did appear to matter, the study found, was if the child had a sibling or came from a society that values what psychologists call "interdependence."

研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，真正重要的似乎是，孩子是否有兄弟姐妹，或者來自一個重視心理學(xué)家所說的“相互依賴”的社會。

"We think certain family and social experiences make a difference, and continued research would be desirable to more fully understand what maximizes the expression of altruism in young children," Barragan said. "If we can discover how to promote altruism our kids, this could move us toward a more caring society."

巴拉甘說：“我們認(rèn)為某些家庭和社會經(jīng)歷會產(chǎn)生影響，繼續(xù)研究將是可取的，以便更充分地了解是什么使幼兒的利他主義表達(dá)最大化。”“如果我們能發(fā)現(xiàn)如何促進(jìn)孩子們的利他主義，這可能會推動我們走向一個更有愛心的社會。”