Infants’ early sensitivity to social patterns is conventional perception, not moral judgment.

Evidence

What infants are born with is a sensitivity for how things appear to be done in their social surroundings. Very early on, infants detect patterns in the way people behave with one another and react with surprise when these patterns are transgressed. For example, young infants detect when a protagonist hinders rather than helps another, or defies expected physical dominance (Hamlin et al. 2007; Thomsen et al. 2011). This, we would argue, can all be derived from majority patterns of social interactions, eventually becoming perceived norms that can be uncannily transgressed. We would be hard pressed to equate such responses with morality or fairness proper. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 544

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Infant trust is an evolved instinct, not a cognitive model; Children’s fairness objection to hitting arises from moral perception, not cultural transmission. — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 9955; Human cognition begins with a primitive distinction we make from birth (+4 more)

Related

• Acceptance of violence is a transmitted skill, not a cultural trait (similarity 0.79)
• Children’s fairness objection to hitting arises from moral perception, not cultural transmission. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Children’s fairness objection to hitting arises from moral perception, not cultural transmission. #contradicts (0.80) — , The Rod and the Child, 9955
• Children’s normalization of corporal punishment is normal schema-building, not self-deception. #corroborates (0.78) — , The Rod and the Child, 8636
• Most behavioral coding is acquired unconsciously during childhood socialization #corroborates (0.75)
• Infant trust is an evolved instinct, not a cognitive model #complicates (0.72)
• Human cognition begins with a primitive distinction we make from birth #complicates (0.72)
• Sensitivity to merit and equity emerges early and universally in children #complicates (0.72) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 657
• Children learn power rather than moral rules from being physically punished #complicates (0.70) — , The Rod and the Child, 9873