Babies can tell the difference between happy and sad music
By nine months of age, babies can already tell the difference between jolly(adj.欢快的) jingles(n.叮当声) and sad ones.
Dozens of babies aged between three and nine months were presented with a video image of a male or female actor with a neutral facial expression. Musical excerpts(n.摘录) were played through speakers located near this face.
For three-month-olds, changing the mood of the music made no difference - they were still bored by it and didn't look much in the direction of the face and music. By contrast, for nine-month-olds, changing the mood of the music grabbed their attention(引起注意). They realised it was different and started looking in the direction of the face and music more often. The results for five and seven-month-olds were mixed. A switch from sad to happy music grabbed their attention, but from happy to sad did not - the researchers aren't entirely sure why this is, but it may have something to do with sad music being inherently(adv.内在的,固有的) less interesting.
Although the older babies recognised a change in the mood of the music, it's not clear how much this really meant to them. "We make no claims about whether infants perceivedaffect in the music or experienced either happiness or sadness while listening to it," the researchers said.