Johnny may be hardwired to play with toy guns and dump trucks after all.
As for his little sister’s preference for Barbie and Beanie Babies, chalk it up to DNA, say scientists.
The idea that children’s taste in toys might somehow be genetically determined has long been disparaged by psychologists and ridiculed as being sexist.
But a study by researchers in the US has added new fuel to the nature versus nurture debate. The study suggests that when it comes to choosing between trucks and cuddly stuffed animals, chromosomes could make a difference.
There have been hundreds of studies that sought to distinguish acquired from innate behavior patterns in small children.
But by the time kids are old enough to choose and play with toys, they have also picked up cues from their parents, peers and television on how little girls and boys should behave, making it impossible to separate the two influences.
So a team of scientists led by Kim Wallen of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia, decided to offer typical “male” and “female” toys to rhesus monkeys to see if preferences aligned with sex.
Much to their surprise, they did. The 11 male monkeys headed straight for the wheeled toys, such as dump trucks, leaving the plush toys alone. The 23 females were more curious and played with both.
“They are not subject to advertising. They are not subject to parental encouragement,” said Wallen.
The results support an earlier study at Texas A&M University, with green vervet monkeys, which also showed a distinct preference among male monkeys for “masculine” playthings.
Wallen’s study was first published in the journal Hormones and Behavior, and reported on the British Web site NewScientist.com.
Jimmy: What's going on in here?
Eric: We've been playing this great card game. When you lose you have to go to the store downstairs and do something silly.
Jimmy: Really? How much longer are you guys going to play for?
Eric: All night long. This game is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
Jimmy: Can I join?
Eric: Sure!
吉米：你們在幹嘛啊？
艾瑞克：我們在玩這個好玩的紙牌遊戲，輸的人得去樓下商店裡做一些蠢事。
吉米：真的？你們大夥還要玩多久？
艾瑞克：我們要玩通宵，這個遊戲實在太有趣了。
吉米：我可以一起玩嗎？
艾瑞克：當然！
be more fun than a barrel of monkeys 非常有趣
Something that is more fun than a barrel of monkeys is very enjoyable. For example, "The state fair was more fun than a barrel of monkeys."
「more fun than a barrel of monkeys」表示非常有趣，例如：「那個州立露天市集超好玩的」。
(AFP)
強尼喜歡玩玩具槍和傾洩卡車可能是天性的關係。
至於他妹妹則比較喜歡玩芭比娃娃和填充娃娃，科學家指出，這是由DNA決定的。
孩童對玩具的喜好可能多少受到基因影響的主張，長期以來受到心理學家的蔑視，並被揶揄是性別主義作祟。
但美國學者進行的一項研究卻使得先天遺傳與後天環境之爭愈發激烈。該研究認為，小朋友在卡車和可愛的填充動物間作選擇時，染色體可能佔有影響地位。
已有數以百計的研究希望能辨識幼童的行為中，哪些是與生俱來、哪些是後天養成的習慣。
但等到孩子大到能自己選擇玩具時，他們也已從父母、同儕身上和電視中學到小男孩和小女孩各自應有的行為表現，因此幾乎不可能分辨先天因素和後天環境的影響。
因此，喬治亞州亞特蘭大耶基斯國家靈長動物研究中心的金姆．威倫所帶領的一組科學團隊，決定讓一群恆河猴選擇典型的「雄性」和「雌性」玩具，以了解性別是否為決定喜好的關鍵因素。
大出他們意料地，猴子們真的選了符合自己性別的玩具。十一隻公猴直接朝傾倒卡車等有輪子的玩具走去，完全不理絨毛玩具；二十三隻母猴對兩種玩具都很好奇，也都拿起來玩玩看。
威倫說：「牠們不受廣告或是父母鼓勵的影響。」
這項實驗結果為德州農工大學之前用草原猴進行的一項研究提供了佐證；草原猴的實驗也顯示，公猴明顯偏好「有男性雄風」的玩具。
威倫的研究最早刊登在《荷爾蒙與行為》期刊中，後來英國網站NewScientist.com也有報導。（法新社�翻譯：袁星塵）
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