A longitudinal study addressed the question of stability of individual expressive behaviors and replicated the basic findings of a cross-sectional study. Subjects were 25 infants for whom videotape records were available of four diptheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) inocculations scheduled at roughly 2, 4, 6, and 18 months. (Author/RH)

Results indicated that the more frequently the children studied expressed emotion, the older the age of language achievements; and the more time spent in neutral affect, the younger the age of language achievements. (PCB)

The relationship between abnormal stereotyped behaviors and abnormal focused affections was examined in 20 children (ages 7-13) with developmental disabilities. Results include all children with abnormal focused affections exhibited stereotypes; abnormal focused affects could be studied reliably in this population through several methodologies;…

Tests three previously untested hypotheses central to the theory of Brazelton and colleagues about the sequential structure of mother-infant face-to-face interaction. Results show that with some revision the hypotheses describe the structure of mother-infant face-to-face interaction from three to nine months of age. (Author/RH)

The emotional impact of televised interpersonal dramas was investigated, with specific emphasis being given to age- and gender-related differences in children's spontaneous nonverbal expressive reactions. Participants were 27 female and 22 male children in three age groups: 4-5, 7-8, and 13-14 years. Facial expressions were unobtrusively…

The first part of this paper discusses presentations by other symposium participants which addressed different facets of the developmental paths involved in understanding one's own emotional states, the emotional states of others, why one feels what one does, and whether or not one shows these feelings expressively to others. It is the premise of…

The present research examined the developing awareness in children that one's emotional state need not correspond to how one appears expressively to others. Descriptive data were collected on children's own views about emotion management in interpersonal conflict scenarios and in general hypothetical situations. All of the child variables provide…

Results showed that infants can differentiate dynamic, multimodal expressions as early as five months of age; can distinguish dynamically distinct expressions before similarly animated expressions; and seem to rely more on the voice than the face in making these discriminations. (RH)

The study of affect comprehension in 15 children with pervasive developmental disorders (ages 7-10) and normal children matched for mental age found that the disabled children were impaired on affect matching compared to the controls and were impaired on face and affect matching relative to their own performance on object matching. (Author/DB)

Describes two experiments that examined children's understanding of the distinction between real and apparent emotion. Discusses the findings in relation to research concerning children's concept of mind, their grasp of the appearance-reality distinction; their ability to produce complex, embedded justifications; and their ideas about emotion.…

Spontaneous expressive control of negative emotion was examined in two studies of children three- to nine-years-old using an experimental "disappointing" situation. Study 1 examined facial expressions, verbalizations, and spontaneous references to emotional expression control. Study 2 examined the expressive behavior of 20 preschool…

Examined the relation between a history of maltreatment and cognitive control functioning in two groups of preschool and early school-age maltreated and nonmaltreated children. Maltreated children showed developmentally impaired cognitive control functioning on a number of tasks. (RH)

Children's beliefs about why affective expressive behavior should be dissociated from internal state were elicited via a structured interview and investigated in conjunction with their parents' (1) attitudes toward children's expressive behavior, (2) perceptions of their own self-monitoring, and (3) perceptions of their families'"social…

Investigates children's person-by-situation knowledge of probable causes of emotion in self and in others, and compares this to adults' construals. Shows that children can generate contextual explanations for affective states in self and others that are both shared by other children and adults and selectively related to different kinds of…

Reports on data collected in nine age ranges from 18 months to 71 months that examined children's ability to understand emotion-descriptive adjectives when used by adults and their own use of these words in productive vocabulary. (HOD)