Do Babies Have a Moral Compass? Debate Heats Up

Do Babies Have a Moral Compass? Debate Heats Up

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An experiment five years ago suggested that babies are equipped with an innate moral compass, which drives them to choose good individuals over the bad in a wooden puppet show. But new research casts doubt on those findings, demonstrating that a baby’s apparent preference for what’s right might just reflect a fondness for bouncy things.

The researchers who conducted the original study stand by their results and interpretations, pointing to some discrepancies in the new study.