Where Does Human Interaction Begin?

Mushafau Ade Kukoyi
Designing For Human Experience
FA 3435
01-20-06

Where Does Human Interaction Begin?

According to The American Heritage Dictionary, interaction can be defined as “the act or process of interacting, or the state of undergoing interaction”. As such, human interaction can be better understood as a mutual or reciprocal action between two or more individuals thus creating physical or mental interactivity.

However, resent studies have proven that babies in the womb are alert, aware, and attentive to activities involving voice, touch, and music. Thus confirming that human interaction actually begins from the worm. Also, medical researches has proven that babies benefit from these activities by forming stronger relationships with their parents and their parents with them making for better attachments and better birthing experiences. However, these babies tend to show intelligent development of speech, fine and gross motor activity, better emotional self-regulation, and better cognitive processing.

Until the turn of the last century, medical scientist did not think fetus could have any significant interaction. This is largely due to the fact that they did not believe fetus could have a working mind. In retrospect, this false beliefs about the brain veiled the fact that babies in the uterine world were indeed having experiences, establishing patterns of interaction, listening to music and conversation (and as tests ultimately proved) were remembering them. Numerous experiments have made it clear that fetus who have the opportunity to hear stories and music repeated to them in uterus can demonstrate recognition for this material later. Fetus have become familiar with and show a preference for specific lullabies, musical theme like "Mary had a little Lamb," and theme music from popular TV soap operas.

Research has shown that fetus memorize the voices of their mothers and fathers in the womb, while learning the basic features of their native language, especially the "mother’s tongue”. Analysis of voice and cry sounds as early as 26 weeks of gestation shows how far babies of this age have already progressed in adopting the voice individuality of the mother.

In some recent experiment, mothers repeated children rhyme daily for four weeks from week 33 to 37 in uterus. Tested at 37 weeks while still inside, the babies reacted with a change of heartbeat to the familiar rhyme, but not to the unfamiliar rhyme. In other researches, babies have demonstrated immediately after birth a preference for their mother's voice and their native language. The womb turns out to be a stimulating place and is, in many ways, a school. In the last fifteen years as these facts were gradually becoming known, many books, tapes, and exercises were created to help parents understand and communicate with babies in the womb. All are potentially valuable in helping parents to make a creative and loving attachment (rather than an insensitive or aggressive one), a connection, which respects the needs of the baby’s naturally curious and interactivity. Moreover, one of the biggest surprises about life in the womb is the extent of emotional involvement and expression, none of which was anticipated in early psychology or medicine. The impulsiveness and gracefulness of movement from about 10 weeks after conception is a vehicle for self-expression including early aspects of self-control, expression of needs and interests, and of protest against painful experiences. By 15 weeks, ultrasound reveals babies moving in reaction to something as simple as a mother's laugh or cough.

Consequently, with bright development of hearing and tasting before 16 weeks gestational age, the way is open for extensive interaction with mothers and fathers during pregnancy. For example, ultrasound imaging of twins’ reveals totally unexpected social relations and expressions of feeling manifested by repeated hitting, kicking, or playing together.
In conclusion, as it is with the establishment of physical settings in utero, the emotional system is also organizing itself in relation to the types of interactions encountered. A baby surrounded with anger, fear, and anxiety will adjust itself to that world in response to the interaction it received while in the mother’s womb and carry those settings into life.


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