When Do Babies Develop Consciousness?

When do humans acquire consciousness in the course of their development? When French philosopher René Descartes was questioned by his critics in the 17th century about the consciousness of infants, he eventually suggested that infants could have thoughts, albeit simpler ones than those of adults. Hundreds of years later, the question of when humans gain consciousness remains a challenge for psychologists and philosophers alike. Scientists at the University of Birmingham are now proposing a new and improved method for researchers to find out when consciousness emerges in human infancy.

Determination of Consciousness Traits to Help Determine When Babies Develop Consciousness

In a letter to the editor published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Dr. Henry Taylor, associate professor of philosophy, and Andrew Bremner, professor of developmental psychology, have demonstrated a new approach that involves identifying markers of consciousness in adults and then measuring when babies exhibit a greater number of these markers in development.

Dr. Taylor explains: “Imagine, for example, if we knew that in adults a certain very specific behavior or pattern of brain activation is always associated with consciousness. If we can then determine when this behavior or brain activation occurs in infants, we have good reason to believe that this is when consciousness occurs in infants. Such behaviors and brain activations are what researchers call ‘markers’ of consciousness.”

This kind of approach is urgently needed because babies (unlike adults) cannot tell what they are conscious of. According to the researchers, it is difficult to determine when babies become conscious. This is mainly due to the fact that babies cannot report their experiences. Since you can’t ask them when they become aware of something, it’s best to identify a wide range of consciousness traits that occur in early and late development and then group them together, which could help determine the timing of consciousness.

In the recently published article, the researchers propose four specific markers of consciousness, some of which are found in the late stages of pregnancy and others in early infancy. On this basis, the study argues that consciousness emerges early (from the last prenatal trimester). However, Professor Bremner and Dr. Taylor point out that this ignores other signs of consciousness. Previous research has identified a separate group of markers. These include:

– Pointing (directing attention to an object and checking it out). – Intentional control (deliberate means-end coordination of actions – e.g. pulling on a prop to retrieve a distant object). – Explicit memory (delayed imitation of actions).

Last Trimester of Pregnancy, Early Infancy

According to Taylor, one of the complicating issues is that not all markers point to the same age for the emergence of consciousness. The markers mentioned by Bayne and colleagues point to an age between the last trimester of pregnancy and early infancy, while other markers point to an age of about one year. At the extreme end of the scale, there are even markers that only appear at 3 to 4 years of age. Because there are so many different markers of consciousness that appear in early and late development, it is extremely difficult to draw a conclusion.

Therefore, according to the experts, a broad approach to markers is needed, including those that appear in early and late stages. They also recommend considering a range of developmental models for the onset of consciousness. For example, some markers may appear in a cluster in early development, while others may appear in a later one. However, there may also be a continuous and gradual emergence of certain markers that spans gestation and early life.

The researchers believe that by clustering this broad selection of markers, they can finally answer the question that has existed for thousands of years, namely when consciousness emerges in human infancy.