Why EVERY baby loves Peekaboo: Researchers reveal the secrets of the game - and how it helps babies develop
- Game can even help young children get over the fear of being away from their mother
- Some believe believe the appeal of the game is fooling the children into thinking they are invisible
It is a game enjoyed by almost every baby - and scientists believe they have finally found the reasons Peekaboo is so popular.
They key, they claim, is that the game can be adapted as the child grows - and helps them develop key skills.
Researchers believe that the game can even help young children get over the fear of being away from their mother.
Researchers say the game can make some children feel they are invisible
Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget dubbed this principle 'object permanence', and research found that babies spent the first two years developing the technique.
Research has even been conducted into how important the pitch in a parent's voice is.
Several research projects have studied the game.
Researchers led by James Russell at the University of Cambridge believe the appeal of the game is fooling the children into thinking they are invisible.
The team carried out the first study into this bizarre trait with groups of three and four-year-old children.
The children's eyes were covered with masks and they were then asked whether they could be seen by the researchers - with most saying no.
Many also believed that the researchers could not see adults who were wearing eye masks - leading to the conclusion most young children believe that anyone who covers their eyes is obscured from other people's view.
The researchers then attempted to distinguish what exactly creates the feeling of invisibility - whether it was not being able to see at all or just because the other person couldn't see their eyes.
The children were given a pair of mirrored goggles so that while they could see through the glasses, no one could see their eyes.
Some experts claim the game helps infants to master anxiety when their mother disappears.
Unfortunately, only 7 of the 37 participating children were able to get to grips with the idea that while they could still see, no one could see their eyes.
But of those who did understand the concept, six believed they were invisible if the researchers couldn't see their eyes, even if they could still see them.
Although when the children were asked to explain how they were made invisible by simply hiding their eyes, many knew that their bodies remained visible, suggesting a childhood distinction between their physical bodies and the 'self' they connect to their eyes.
To test this theory that children believe they can be seen only through their eyes, the researchers looked directly at each of the children while asking them to avert their gaze.
They then did the same process in reverse, with the children looking at the researchers while they diverted their eyes.
In each instance, the majority of children felt they were not being seen so long as their eyes didn't meet the other person's.
The game is believed to be a key part of a child's development
In another experiment, researchers Gerrod Parrott and Henry Gleitman conducted a series of tests to find out the key to the game.
'The role of expectations in infants' enjoyment of play was studied by observing their smiling, laughter, and eyebrow raises during a peek-a-boo game that contained occasional trick trials,' they wrote.
The team devised a series of experiments to try and trick children by reappearing in different places, or even having different people appear when the child removed their hands.
'Infants in all age groups smiled less following person-switch reappearances than following normal ones, with the difference increasing with age,' the team wrote.
'These findings suggest that infants as young as 6 months have expectations about the identity and location of a returning person, that conformity to these expectations contributes to infants' enjoyment of games such as peek-a-boo, and that infants of this age may not yet enjoy deviations from their expectations.'
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