Media release

From: The Royal Society

Old ears - Older people are just as good as young adults at discerning the meaning of a baby’s cry, despite studies showing aging is related to a decrease in understanding others’ emotions. A sample of 309 adults aged 20-84 were played recordings of babies crying from discomfort (being bathed or dressed by parents) or pain (during a routine vaccination). Participants correctly identified ‘discomfort’ or ‘pain’ cries 61.4% of the time. This ability was unaffected by age, but stronger in those with parenting experience.  Biology Letters

Old but attuned: The ability to decode babies' cries does not decline with age
Biology Letters
In most human societies, grandparents often take care of their grandchildren, including babies. Studies have shown that as we age, it becomes harder to understand other people's emotions. But does this also mean that it's harder for older people to understand baby's cries? In our study, we found that older people who have cared for babies are just as good as younger adults at knowing if a baby is crying because of pain or just because it's uncomfortable. This suggests that older people can help younger ones with childcare. This helps both the young parents and the older, knowledgeable caregivers.