There’s this baby I love on Instagram. She has the biggest, cutest cheeks and two little bottom teeth and is so smiley every time her mom pulls out biscuits to give her (cookies for us Americans).
Her mom films feeding her these cookies.
People comment. They tell her that’s a lot of sugar for a baby. She replies saying she didn’t know, and keeps posting the same type of video doing the same thing.
The baby keeps smiling. So as far as mom’s concerned, nothing needs to change.
Pavlov rang a bell before feeding his dogs.
Eventually the dogs drooled at the bell alone. Doesn’t mean they loved him! We have no idea. He just fed them.
The baby is doing the same thing with the cookies.
Mom pulls out the cookies, baby starts cooing and smiling before she’s even had one.
She’s responding to a cue that reliably predicts sugar and a dopamine hit to her brain.
In one study, rats given a choice b…
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