For example, one recent study had subjects listen to a recording of a baby crying or a more neutral noise. Then the subjects had to play a game of whack-a-mole. The ones who’d listened to babies crying were faster and more accurate in their mole-whacking efforts—they were, in other words, more alert and focused after being exposed to the sound. Women showed this result more robustly than men.[*9] The evolutionary advantages are pretty clear. If you are tuned to the sound of a baby crying, you’ll probably be better at taking action to make it stop: flee with babe in arms, fight off predators,
...more
