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How infants integrate attentional and emotional cues in order to regulate their imitative responses. |
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Abstract:
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Background and Aims: In their 2nd year, infants are highly responsive to attentional and emotional cues. They accurately look at the target of another person’s gaze (Butterworth & Jarrett, 1991) and reference people’s emotional expressions to determine whether to approach novel objects (Klinnert et al., 1986). These cues also become linked at this time, with infants using eye-gaze to identify the target of others’ emotional displays (Moses et al., 2001). This study extends past research by exploring how infants' use such cues to regulate their imitative responses.
Methods. 18-month-olds were randomly assigned to the Anger-attend; Anger-distracted; or Neutral-attend condition. Infants watched an Experimenter demonstrate an action on an object. An unfamiliar adult (the Emoter) subsequently entered the room, watched the Experimenter demonstrate the action, and expressed Anger or Neutral affect toward the Experimenter for having performed the action. Infants were then given 20s to play with the object. In all three conditions, the Emoter was silent and neutral during this time. She oriented toward the infant, but her eyes were either directed toward a magazine (Anger-distracted) or the infant (Anger- & Neutral-attend). Two further trials were administered, each involving a different action and object but otherwise following an identical procedure.
Key results. To date, 10 infants have been tested in each condition. Latency to touch the object was longer in the Anger-attend (M=3.01s) than in the Anger-distracted (M=0.83s) and Neutral-attend (M=1.04s) conditions, ps<.05. Imitation scores were summed across trials, such that infants could receive a total score ranging from 0-3, depending upon how many of the Experimenter’s actions were copied. Infants in the Anger-attend condition had lower imitation scores (M=1.30) than those in the Neutral-attend (M=2.40) and Anger-distracted (M=2.30) conditions, ps<.05.
Conclusions. After the Emoter expressed anger toward the Experimenter, infants did not reproduce as many target actions as they did when the Emoter expressed no anger. However, infants were more likely to imitate when the previously angry adult read a magazine than when she looked toward them. These findings suggest more than general inhibition or emotion contagion. Instead, infants seemed to integrate the attentional and emotional information. They may have expected the Emoter to become angry if they repeated the target action, but only if the Emoter attended to their actions. This research adds to the growing literature suggesting that toddlers possess some of the social-cognitive skills leading toward the later emergence of a more adult-like theory of mind. |
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Association:
Name: XVth Biennial International Conference on Infant Studies
URL: http://www.isisweb.org
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Citation:
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MLA Citation:
| Repacholi, Betty., Olsen, Berit. and Meltzoff, Andrew. "How infants integrate attentional and emotional cues in order to regulate their imitative responses." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the XVth Biennial International Conference on Infant Studies, Westin Miyako, Kyoto, Japan, Jun 19, 2006 <Not Available>. 2009-05-25 <http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p93887_index.html> |
APA Citation:
| Repacholi, B. , Olsen, B. R. and Meltzoff, A. N. , 2006-06-19 "How infants integrate attentional and emotional cues in order to regulate their imitative responses." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the XVth Biennial International Conference on Infant Studies, Westin Miyako, Kyoto, Japan <Not Available>. 2009-05-25 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p93887_index.html |
Publication Type: Individual Poster
Abstract: Background and Aims: In their 2nd year, infants are highly responsive to attentional and emotional cues. They accurately look at the target of another person’s gaze (Butterworth & Jarrett, 1991) and reference people’s emotional expressions to determine whether to approach novel objects (Klinnert et al., 1986). These cues also become linked at this time, with infants using eye-gaze to identify the target of others’ emotional displays (Moses et al., 2001). This study extends past research by exploring how infants' use such cues to regulate their imitative responses.
Methods. 18-month-olds were randomly assigned to the Anger-attend; Anger-distracted; or Neutral-attend condition. Infants watched an Experimenter demonstrate an action on an object. An unfamiliar adult (the Emoter) subsequently entered the room, watched the Experimenter demonstrate the action, and expressed Anger or Neutral affect toward the Experimenter for having performed the action. Infants were then given 20s to play with the object. In all three conditions, the Emoter was silent and neutral during this time. She oriented toward the infant, but her eyes were either directed toward a magazine (Anger-distracted) or the infant (Anger- & Neutral-attend). Two further trials were administered, each involving a different action and object but otherwise following an identical procedure.
Key results. To date, 10 infants have been tested in each condition. Latency to touch the object was longer in the Anger-attend (M=3.01s) than in the Anger-distracted (M=0.83s) and Neutral-attend (M=1.04s) conditions, ps<.05. Imitation scores were summed across trials, such that infants could receive a total score ranging from 0-3, depending upon how many of the Experimenter’s actions were copied. Infants in the Anger-attend condition had lower imitation scores (M=1.30) than those in the Neutral-attend (M=2.40) and Anger-distracted (M=2.30) conditions, ps<.05.
Conclusions. After the Emoter expressed anger toward the Experimenter, infants did not reproduce as many target actions as they did when the Emoter expressed no anger. However, infants were more likely to imitate when the previously angry adult read a magazine than when she looked toward them. These findings suggest more than general inhibition or emotion contagion. Instead, infants seemed to integrate the attentional and emotional information. They may have expected the Emoter to become angry if they repeated the target action, but only if the Emoter attended to their actions. This research adds to the growing literature suggesting that toddlers possess some of the social-cognitive skills leading toward the later emergence of a more adult-like theory of mind. |
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