Babies can read emotions before they can speak! They can tell if their parents are happy or angry at just six months old

Babies can tell if their parents are happy or angry at just six months old, new research suggests, according to Daily Mail.

Infants spend longer looking at angry faces if they have heard a voice expressing happiness, a study found today.

According to the researchers, this suggests babies can distinguish different emotions before they even learn to speak.

Study author Amaya Palama,  said: ‘Based on this study we can conclude six-month-old babies are able to recognise the emotion of happiness regardless of these auditory or visual physical characteristics.’ 

Babies express emotions to communicate carer their needs to their carers, such as crying to indicate they need to be fed or changed.

 Babies focus on angry people’s mouths  

Results further suggest babies do not have a preference for happy or angry faces after hearing a neutral voice or one expressing fury. 

Infants specifically spend longer looking at people’s mouths after hearing happy voices. 

The researchers analysed 24 six-month-old babies who took part in the study.

The infants were placed facing a black screen where they listened to a neutral, happy or angry voice for 20 seconds.

They were then sat in front of faces expressing either of these two emotions for 10 seconds.

Eye-tracking technology was to used to measure the babies’ lines of vision on the assumption looking at one face for longer suggests the infants can distinguish between happiness and anger.

Adults do not find babies cute until six months old 

This comes after research released earlier this month suggested newborns may be considered ugly.

Adults find babies most appealing when they reach around six months old, a study found.

Previous research suggests babies have evolved ‘cute’ characteristics, such as big eyes, chubby cheeks and cooing noises in order to bring out a nurturing instinct in adults that better ensures their survival.

Youngsters only typically take on these features at around six months old, which may be due to infant mortality previously being high; therefore delayed attachment may have made their deaths easier to cope with, past studies imply.

Lead author Professor Tony Volk, said: ‘We want to let parents know that if they’re not instantly grabbed by this baby as much as they thought they might be, then that’s normal.

N.H.Kh