If babies can't talk, how do they think?

Question

I mean toddlers too; if they can't use words, how do they have preferences: a certain colour they like, a person they dislike .. how do they think of things?

Answer 1

Thought comes before talk...

Are you telling me that when you are silent, you have no thoughts?

Answer 2

Well, that is exactly what my mum said the other day looking at my baby cousin. I suppose they may associate a bad experience they have had with something they don't like but, good question, I do not know the answer!

Answer 3

Some good answers above--

To add to this---the average child doesn't think IN WORDS until 5 to 7 years old. That's why when children are playing --they are also talking OUT LOUD. The more extroverted a child is---the more they will be talking as they play.

The words come out the mouth--into the ears---and to the brain! (A lot of research done on this. Check out works by Dr. Becky Bailey, well known ECH expert)

Watch young children as they play.

It used to drive me nuts--when we'd be driving and my kids would be talking away to themselves as we drove. LOL---now I smile to myself and think---Ahhh,  a lot  of good thinking going on back there!!! :-)

Answer 4

they probably think through images, and technically we arent thinking a language we just think what we want or what we are going to do without speeking or anything it just translates into something we will understand

Answer 5

Theyre minds do not know about colours they gradually learn this over time. They dont know about preferences they dont think about that. Their minds just TELL THEM who to like kinda thing  

Answer 6

They don't think in terms of language or speech. A babies thoughts will be pretty basic until they learn how to talk because language gives us the ability to intellectualise our thoughts.They would have an emotional reaction to sound, light, colour, people and touch. Thats why babies tend to just cry when something goes wrong. Because they dont have the ability to express what they think in terms that we can understand easily, they use emotional response to show us how they feel. So when a baby is hungry they cry because they are thinking about their bottle or food. They aren't literally thinking in words. Its all to do with instinct. Im not sure that they really think deeply, they react instinctively using emotion or facial expression and other forms of non verbal communication to show us how they feel. So if they dislike a person, they dont like the way they FEEL around that person and so instinctively they react negatively.

Answer 7

they have feeling and senses like the rest of us if you like pizza when you eat it it tastes good but you don't think the word pizza the whole time your eating it.  

Answer 8

Thought will be linked to emotion, the universal language

Answer 9

Maybe I don't understand you question, but it seems pretty simple to me.  When we were starting out as humans, there was no language.  There was grunting, pointing and still lots of emotion.

Things like art, dance and music can all have no words but convey thoughts, feelings, likes and dislikes.

As far as your last question, you may need to re-think that one yourself.

Answer 10

babies are learning more at this point in their life than they will ever learn. they learn so much every day, by just being around people and through play. babies are very smart and communicate by crying when they can't talk.  

Answer 11

babies do think but its simple thinking but they cant tell you what are they thinking since they cant talk but you can tell what they are thinking from their actions like when a one year old sees a craker in the middleof the table and he tries to get it but he cant and then he starts crying he is telling you that he want that craker and he cant reach it so give it to me. the same thing when a one year old is playing with a toy and someone takes it from him he start crying to tell you that he wants his tyoe back.

Answer 12

I dont know, but I can't remember anything until I was like 3yrs old so who cares, we're stupid until then anyway

Answer 13

they don't

Answer 14

They think of things in the same way as we do. That's like saying when we don't talk how do we think - it's just something we do that we can't control. Babies still think - we may not know what they are thinking and I'm sure it won't be what we think of, but they still think

Answer 15

"Goo goo gaa gaa" might be what you think is the beginning of how babies learn to talk, but you'd be wrong! Language learning starts well before babies utter their first words or babbles. Once babies can hear, they respond to sounds. There's no question that babies in the womb jump in response to noises, such as fireworks. Even before they're born, they eavesdrop on their mother's conversations. They don't recognize words, but they recognize their mother's speech patterns. At first, language is only like a melody for them, but they enter the world prepared to learn any of the world's 7,000 languages. I learned this from my parents.

Answer 16

need is expressed mainly by attention seeking,crying,pointing and other facial and hand gestures.

their brains work!

Answer 17

ahh, the whole 'do we talk because we think? or do we think because we talk?' debate. did that whole subject for my degree, and.... I don't know ; )

you may find Noan Chomsky's writings interesting though. (is language innate etc)

Answer 18

baby can communicate with other babies like them.but we adult dont understand this

Neh=hungry

Owh=sleepy

Heh=discomfort/need to be change

Eair=lower gas/means hold the baby back on your shoulder

Eh=burp

hope these help!

Answer 19

They just wonder why everybody teats them like a moron!

Answer 20

Nobody knows,

A question unanswered,

But i suppose they make up there own words, to what they think it is.