London - Even at the tender age of just three months, baby boys show a gender preference for other baby boys, according to a report in New Scientist magazine published today.
Dr Anne Campbell and her Durham University colleagues wanted to find out if three-month babies could detect a difference between male and female infants. They showed 60 babies photographs of clothed babies. The baby girls did not have a preference for either sex, but the boys showed a marked interest when they saw pictures of other baby boys. "We don't know how they do it," Dr Campbell said. "We strongly suspect that adults couldn't tell the difference."