“The Most Powerful Learning Machine in the Universe”

A BABY’S brain has been called “the most powerful learning machine in the universe,” and for good reason. An infant enters the world primed to absorb all the sights, sounds, and sensations that surround him.*

Above all, the infant is intrigued by other humans—their faces, their voices, their touch. The book Babyhood, by Penelope Leach, states: “Many studies have been made of the sights which interest an infant most, the sounds which attract and hold his attention, the sensations he most clearly seeks to repeat. All of these are most frequently and readily available in the form of an adult care-taking human being.” No wonder parents play such a vital role in the child’s development!