Surprise! Babies Learn Best From the Unexpected

When babies confront something surprising, they want to figure out what happened—and that curiosity helps them learn.

"Infants use what they already know about the world to form predictions. When these predictions are shown to be wrong, infants use this as a special opportunity for learning," said Lisa Feigenson, professor of psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins University. IPGGutenbergUKLtd/iStock/Thinkstock

When babies confront something surprising, they want to figure out what happened—and that curiosity helps them learn.

If an object behaves differently from what a baby anticipates, he or she not only focuses on that object, but also ultimately learns more about it than from a similar but more predictable object, new research shows.

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