Humans
When adults pretended to be in pain, children as young as 9 months old comforted them, pushing back the earliest age when humans are known to display empathy
Children can display empathy before they are old enough to talk
MStudioImages/Getty Images
Children between 9 and 18 months old already demonstrate empathy, suggesting this ability starts at an earlier age than previously thought, even for babies from different cultural backgrounds.
“If I don’t understand your emotions, I can’t communicate with you and I can’t respond to your emotions, so it’s an essential skill – but we only know how it develops in a small part of the world,” says Carlo Vreden at the Leibniz…
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
