A film about babies and their ability to communicate from birth, produced by a Dundee University psychology lecturer and a Fife-based independent film maker, will be premiered at Dundee Contemporary Arts on Saturday.
The Connected Baby, produced by Dr Suzanne Zeedyk and Jonathan Robertson, shows how babies come in to the world communicating, social and able to engage with the people around them.
“At one time, we believed that babies were born into a mass of blooming, buzzing confusion,” said Dr Zeedyk. “Science has come a long way since then.
“We now have a mass of findings, from both psychology and neuroscience, which show that babies come into the world already emotionally aware of and connected to other people and we’ve realised that the emotional responses they receive back from other people actually mould the pathways developing in their young brains.
“This knowledge is fascinating, and it’s also important. It means that the way we engage with our babies, from the moment they are born, has an impact on their long-term development.”
A participating parent said, “When I saw the footage, I could not believe how attentive my baby was. I could see every little nuance … I think I hadn’t noticed this so much before, because it happens so fast in real time.
“Just watching the film has helped me understand him better, and made me more confident.”
The film contains commentary from some of the leading infant researchers in the UK, along with footage of family members interaction with the children.
“Interest in the early years is now huge, in a number of countries across the world,” said Dr Zeedyk. “We’ve come to realise that we can better tackle many of our current societal challenges by giving closer attention to babies’ emotional needs.
“We produced this film in the hope that it would be useful to … anyone engaging with young children, either as parents or professionals.”
A DVD of the film will be released later this year, copies of which can be requested by registering at www.theconnectedbaby.org when the site goes live on Saturday.
Bookings for the 10am premiere can be made by emailing karen@suzannezeedyk.com