- Developmental research(as the type of study Hoffman conducted)
- Scientific studies that track how people grow and change over time, especially from infancy through childhood, to understand how abilities and behaviors develop.
- Martin Hoffman(as the researcher whose work is being cited)
- A developmental psychologist who studied how babies and children grow emotionally and morally, particularly focusing on empathy and how people respond to others' suffering.
- Mimicry(as what the newborn behavior goes beyond)
- Simply copying or imitating what someone else does without really understanding it or caring about them—like a mirror reflecting back behavior automatically.
- Other-directed orientation(as evidence that newborns show early signs of empathy)
- The ability to focus on and care about what another person is experiencing, rather than only being concerned with yourself.
- Reactive crying(as the behavior being observed in newborns)
- Crying that happens automatically as a direct response to something, rather than being planned or thought out beforehand.
- Rudimentary(as describing the early form of empathy shown by newborns)
- Basic, simple, or in an early stage of development—like a rough first version before something becomes more complex.
- Selectively responsive(as describing how newborn crying responds specifically to human distress)
- Reacting differently depending on what's happening around you—choosing to respond to some things but not others, rather than responding the same way to everything.