I pulimented a mopar…

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So, for years, we’ve worried about the effects of divorce on our kids.  And, what fighting between parents can do to various children.

But, when we do further research, we don’t find a 1:1 correspondence.  Some children are harmed permanently by conflict, others don’t seem to demonstrate any effects.  How can that be?  What makes the difference among these children?

Given these facts, how would you design a study to ascertain the causes?  How about doing what three smart folk at the University of Oregon did?  Ms. Graham (PhD candidate) and Drs.  Fiisher and Pfeifer decided to investigate the effects of conflict and angry tones on children- ok, on infants. (Psychological Science)  Really?

Their desire was to analyze how their brains react to these sounds.  Which means they would subject the infacts to fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging).  Wait a minute!  These are infants.  How would you get an infant to be perfectly still in a tube that hums and echoes?
By having the infants arrive at the clinical center when they are ready to go to sleep.  Which means they will be as still as one can hope an infant to be.

Brain development under conflict

Why choose babies?  We know that the brains of infant are “plastic”, meaning that they respond and develop as a response to their environments and experiences.  Of course, this plasticity means they also are highly vulnerable to stress- since they do react to quickly to changes.

The question remained that the infants will have to be reacting to the tones when they are sleeping.  Will that work?

Well to find out , first the researchers had to develop a nonsense phrase, that the babies would not comprehend and could only discern the tone in which it was uttered.   They used “I pulimented a mopar“.  (Don’t bother researching what it means- it means absolutely nothing.)  And, they recorded these “words” in various tones- angry, neutral, or happy.
The parents rocked their children (20 infants, ranging in age from 6 to 12 months)  to sleep and then headphones were used to let the infant hear the phrases while they slept.  And…

The babies responded to the tones while sleeping.  Those infant who were normally surrounded by conflict (parents yelling at one another, using displeasing term for one another) demonstrated elevated reactions in various regions of the brain.  In particular, they were reacting to the angry tones.

Now, before you jump to conclusions- we don’t know what this means.  It could be that the brain activation demonstrate that the child is developing resilient responses- or is being subjected to psychological damage.  How will we determine that result?  By monitoring these children over time- and see how they do, indeed, develop their psyche.

One thing is certain.  Be careful how you speak to your spouse (or partner)- not only when your children are awake and around- but even while sleeping!

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18 thoughts on “I pulimented a mopar…”

  1. Seeing something is the first step to understanding. So this is going to be interesting to see what develops.

  2. Hi, Roy. First of all, thanks for clarifying that “I pulimented a mopar” doesn’t mean anything. I was about to start a deep research to find out what it meant, especially worried about if my mopar needed any pulimentation.
    This is a complex experiment they are trying here. How do this people come up with this ideas? Nevertheless, the interesting potential results they can find justify the audacity, I believe.

  3. Some Level of conflict is actually good, but like everything else, moderation is key. Life is filled with conflict, and children need to learn to cope with it. Those who do not, I believe, are less adjusted as adults. That being said, constant conflict in the home is not good either.

    1. Bill-
      I agree in principle. But, unless and until we know what sort of conflicts imprint negative impressions on children, we don’t know if and how we can assist their progression to healty, adjusted adults.

  4. First of all if this is detrimental I feel kind of sorry for the babies. Also don’t babies develop at fast rates then older children (typically involved in divorce)? So maybe the results don’t co-relate to older kids the same? Either way I would say play nice in front of your kids. (emphasis on play)

  5. I think, unscientific-personal-opinion, we are able to discover how the brain works but not, in all cases, the why. And then so, it can still be different from person-to-person because there are different cognitive processes.
    Regardless, I love brain talk.

    1. Yes, we don’t know the why, Elise. But, if we know that “cross-tones” are a problem (we don’t, yet) then maybe we can work just a little harder to eradicate them from our child’s environment- whether up or sleeping.

  6. Wow, what about children raised in a naturally noise pollution environment? I wonder if they would react the same way. Thanks, Roy that is very interesting.

  7. Interesting study. I’m amazed they could find parents willing to subject their babies to the study. I remember how protective I was of my kids when they were babies (ok, so I still am), but I’m always curious how these studies find people.

    1. I was intrigued, as well, Suerae, but…
      If I could discern the best environment for my child, validate what may be best, I am pretty sure I would have been among the first to line up for the test study.

  8. We are all different. As for me, when my parents divorced I think that it is fair to say that I felt much better. Go figure…

    1. That, Muriel, is a little different that being subject to continual argument. Assuming there were arguments, that would be a reason to feel that parents divorced were better conditions for yourself.

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