Kiss and tell: study says saliva sharing a signal for babies learning about relationships
When two people share a kiss or one offers the other a bite of a bagel (during non-pandemic times) there’s likely not too much thought given to the fact that they’re swapping saliva.
After all, smooching and snack sharing are everyday, intimate behaviours that occur in nuclear families and close relationships.
However, new research shows that for babies and toddlers, interactions specifically involving saliva exchange serve as a cue about social attachments and who they can count on.
Young children expect people who share saliva to have close, distinctive relationships and “to respond to one another in distress,” according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.
The findings suggest that babies can use these cues to try to figure out early in life who around them is most likely to offer help, and which relationships are close, the researchers said in a news release.
“People have hypothesized that infants may be able to do something like this for a really long time,” said first author Ashley J. Thomas, a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the brain and cognitive sciences department.
“How babies possibly learn about something as complex as the social world is a really old question that anthropologists have actually been asking,” Johnson said in a phone interview with CTV News, as she discussed the findings, which are novel in the field of developmental psychology.
The researchers studied the reactions of more than 150 young children, mostly in the United States, who took part in several experiments to see “if they do infer that two individuals who share saliva are likely to be in a thick relationship."
“‘Thick,’ in this case refers to a relationship that features high levels of attachment, for example, the types of intimate connections that lead to people kissing, sharing food and utensils, and, as a result, saliva.
EXPERIMENTAL PUPPET THEATRE
To answer their questions, the researchers observed toddlers and babies as they watched human actors and furry puppets interact via video chat.
In one set of experiments, the small children watched one puppet eat from the same orange slice as one actor, and play ball with a second actor.
Then, the puppet sat between the two people and showed signs of distress.
Based on earlier studies involving monkeys, the researchers theorized the babies would first look at the person whom they expected would help the distressed puppet, because in the monkey study, when the baby monkey cried, other members of the troop looked to the baby’s mother as if expecting her to respond.
Sure enough, the team from MIT found the toddlers and infants “looked first and longer” at the actor who had shared food with the puppet, expecting her to help with its distress, rather than looking at the actor who had shared a toy with the puppet.
Another set of experiments focused more specifically on saliva and involved an actor placing a finger into her mouth and then into the mouth of a puppet, or placing her finger on her forehead and then on the forehead of the puppet.
When the actor, this time standing between two puppets expressed distress, the children were again more likely to look toward the puppet that had engaged in saliva sharing.
The researchers suggest “young humans” may make use of the saliva-swapping behaviours they observe to help them understand the concept of a family structure.
But Thomas doesn’t want anyone to conclude that someone who has a “thin” relationship with a child, such as a daycare educator, is any less capable of taking care of them.
“My child’s daycare teachers are amazing. So I wouldn't expect that those daycare teachers would want to swap saliva with my daughter, but I also wouldn't expect them to have a long and enduring attachment with her,” Thomas explained.
“The idea is that basically both of those types of relationships, the ones that are friendly and cooperative, that don't involve these long and enduring attachments, and the ones that do, are both really important for humans,” she said.
However, if you can distinguish one from the other, she summed up, then you know what to expect.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cyclist issued fine for striking four-year-old girl crossing the street
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
'I am angry': Alberta farmers will continue fight over world class motorsport resort
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
'We have no judge for you': Man's assault charges dropped weeks before trial due to lack of judges in Toronto
A man who was accused of sexually and physically assaulting a woman had his charges dropped in April, just weeks before he was set to stand trial in Toronto, due to a lack of judges in the region.
Dutch contestant kicked out of Eurovision hours before tension-plagued song contest final
The Netherlands' contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest was dramatically expelled from competition hours before Saturday's final of the pan-continental pop competition, which has been rattled by protests over the participation of Israel.
Millions of Canadians have been exposed to potentially toxic chemicals, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
Protest encampment cleared by Edmonton police early Saturday morning
A protest encampment set up on the University of Alberta campus was cleared early Saturday morning by Edmonton police.
Woman in her 60s in life-threatening condition after Bridle Path bus shelter collision
Police say a woman in her 60s is in life-threatening condition after being struck by a vehicle at a bus shelter in Toronto's Bridle Path neighbourhood on Friday.
opinion How to use your credit card as a powerful wealth-building tool
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
Couple randomly attacked, 1 stabbed, by group of teens in Toronto, police say
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.