Young children nearly universally seem to think that closing or covering their eyes makes them invisible to others. Cambridge researchers are finding out why.
By Clay Dillow Posted 10.26.2012 at 9:00 am 9 Comments

Peekaboo I see you. doctorlizardo via Flickr

Anyone who has ever engaged in a round of peekaboo with a child has witnessed an adorable yet somewhat illogical behavior that is nearly universally shared among children: the attempt to hide from view by simply closing their eyes. This is cute and all, but it’s also baffling. Why do children think they can render themselves invisible? And why have nearly all young children come to this same irrational conclusion?

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have turned their attentions to this mystery by performing a variety of simple tests on groups of 3 and 4-year-old children. The researchers first placed the children in eye masks and asked them whether they could be seen by the researchers, as well as whether the researchers could see other adults if those adults were wearing eye masks. Nearly all the children felt that they were obscured from view as long as their eyes were masked, and most of them also thought the eye masks shielded the adults from view as well.

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Science, Clay Dillow, child psychology, consciousness, health, human behavior, psychology, self
Next, they questioned a second group of children wearing one of two different sets of goggles. The first set of goggles were blacked out completely. The second set were one-way-mirrored, meaning the children’s eyes were obscured from view but the children could see out of the goggles. This exercise may have suffered somewhat from faulty experiment design, as most of the children wearing the mirrored goggles didn’t properly grasp the idea that while they could see out of the goggles, their own eyes were obscured from view. But of those who did get it all thought they were hidden from view regardless of whether they were wearing blacked out goggles or the mirrored pair.

None of this makes a ton of sense really, but keep in mind that these are children. They eat snot sometimes. And however nonsensical it may seem to us brilliant adults, at least they are being consistent. When their eyes are covered up, they feel invisible. But there’s a twist here. When pressed on exactly what their invisibility meant, the children in both of the aforementioned phases of the study admitted that, okay, their bodies were still visible when their eyes were covered. It was their “self” that was hidden, or at least that is the implication; children seem to draw a distinction between body and “self” and the self seems to be universally described as living in the eyes in some sense--unless the eyes of two people meet, they cannot actually perceive each other.

In yet another study this conclusion seems to be borne out. The researchers looked directly at the child subjects while the children averted their eyes. Then they did it the other way around, with child looking on and researcher averting their gazes. In both instances, the children largely felt they were not being seen as long as the eyes didn’t meet.

Which is crazy, children, but whatever. At least now you know why your toddler won’t look at you when you’re delivering a scolding. The look-away is the perfect getaway.

[BPS Research Digest via Kottke]

9 Comments

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Xionanx
10/26/12 at 9:58 am

Oddly enough the children are CORRECT. Think about it, if you dont SEE someone, and I mean really LOOK at them, they don't exist. It's not so much covering the eyes makes the child invisible, its covering the eyes makes the rest of the world not exist. (which is what these researches should have been asking about).

But thing about any time you have walked into a crowded area, do you remember any of the people in the periphery of your vision? Did you even really register them as "people" or were they simply obstacles to be avoided, pushed through.

Unless you lay your gaze upon them and take the time to register them, the mind barely even registers them as human.

It's not something you can "Actively Test" either, you just have to think about it after the fact, because trying to test it causes you to think about it, which causes you to register them... funny how that works. But when you aren't thinking about it, and just trying to get from point A to B and then remember to look back on it later, you can see the effect.

So.. think about it the next time you leave a crowded area, were there people in there or moving trees?

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African Rover
10/26/12 at 10:09 am

My dog closes its eyes when I admonish it. " You can not be cross with me because I can not see you"

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RainyDayInterns
10/26/12 at 11:00 am

Some of us here have the power of complete invisibility. The only problem is the only time we can demonstrate it is when no one is looking at us...

http://www.rainydaymagazine.com
"We Entertain When It Rains"

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myrkron
10/26/12 at 1:49 pm

It makes a lot of sense to me, the self being in the eyes. From my point of view, I am looking out at the world through my eyes. It's like my self is in my head, like a soul. Separating my body from my self, you can only see me if you look into my eyes.

The farther from my eyes I get, the less the body feels like me, and the more it feels like a tool. For example, if I am sitting and kick something with a small movement of my foot.

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Robot
10/26/12 at 2:08 pm

The child in this picture has just read Dan Nosowitz article on " A Bloody Seeping Hole In My Foot, And Other Memories From A Field Biologist",

www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-10/bloody-seeping-hole-my-foot-and-other-memories-field-biologist#comments

and can believe his eyes, on what such a dumb article!!!!

LOL

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mike3k
10/26/12 at 4:36 pm

Probably the same reason my cat hides under the bed with his butt & tail sticking out.

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Shinkaze
10/28/12 at 12:10 am

"...okay, their bodies were still visible when their eyes were covered. It was their “self” that was hidden..."

Thus proving that it's the adults that are the retards and the children that understand the way reality is truly designed.

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Robot
10/28/12 at 9:19 am

A child uses physically their hands to remove themselves from a situation. We adults do the same thing, but we do it with focus and concentration, closing out the world around us.

Ever notice someone who tries to ignore you and stay in the same room, will just make a point of focusing on something else. PooF! You are gone, lol.

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riff_raff
10/30/12 at 12:02 am

Probably for the same reason baby racoons cover their eyes when scared.



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