NEW YORK (AP) — If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Especially if a baby is watching.

Children around 15 months old can become more persistent in pursuing a goal if they've just seen an adult struggle at a task before succeeding, a new study says.

The results suggest there may be value in letting children see you sweat. "Showing children that hard work works might encourage them to work hard too," researchers conclude in a report released Thursday by the journal Science.

The babies in the study didn't simply imitate what the grown-ups did. They faced a different challenge, showing t...