This study tested whether maternal responsiveness may buffer the child to the effects of maternal depressive symptoms on DNA methylation of "NR3C1," "11ß-HSD2," and neuroendocrine functioning. DNA was derived from buccal epithelial cells and prestress cortisol was obtained from the saliva of 128 infants. Mothers with depressive…

Adults recognize emotions conveyed by bodies with comparable accuracy to facial emotions. However, no prior study has explored infants' perception of body emotions. In Experiment 1, 6.5-month-olds (n = 32) preferred happy over neutral actions of actors with covered faces in upright but not inverted silent videos. In Experiment 2, infants…

Retrospective studies indicate 2 major classes of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) onset: early and later, after a period of relatively healthy development. This prospective, longitudinal study examined social, language, and motor trajectories in 235 children with and without a sibling with autism, ages 6-36 months. Children were grouped as: ASD…

To further the understanding of the effects of early experiences, 9-month-old infants were observed during a frustration task. The analytical sample was composed of 348 linked triads of participants (adoptive parents, adopted child, and birth parent[s]) from a prospective adoption study. It was hypothesized that genetic risk for externalizing…

Two experiments examined whether 18-month-olds learn from emotions directed to a third party. Infants watched an adult perform actions on objects, and an Emoter expressed Anger or Neutral affect toward the adult in response to her actions. The Emoter then became neutral and infants were given access to the objects. Infants' actions were influenced…

Shows that the heart rate acceleration of 16 infants ranging in age from 8 to 16 months consistently began well before the onset of crying. This suggests that heart rate acceleration is not merely a by-product of crying but that it is associated with negative affect. (JMB)

In this longitudinal study a close association between affective expression and cognitive development was demonstrated. (SB)

In two studies, infants saw happy and angry expressions on a face or a dot display of a face and heard either a happy or angry vocalization. Except for infants who saw the dot display face in Study 1, infants looked more at the face which coincided with the vocal expression. (BC)

The behavioral and cortisol responses of Japanese and Caucasian American infants, four months of age, were observed during and following routine inoculation. The Caucasian American group showed a more intense initial affective response and a longer latency to quiet than the Japanese group; the Japanese group showed a greater cortisol response than…

The goal of this investigation was to study the regulatory retention effects of an adult's emotional displays on infant behavior. In Study 1, 11- and 14-month-old infants were tested in a social-referencing-like paradigm in which a 1-hr delay was imposed between the exposure trials and the test trial. In Study 2, 11-month-olds were tested in the…

Infants who cried in response to a reward shift evidenced no retention of the contingency 1 week later but did have excellent retention at one day. Reactivation treatment alleviated forgetting at three weeks. Results indicate that crying in response to violation of a reward-expectation habit functions as an amnesic agent to produce accelerated…

Mothers of 48 infants approximately 12 months old displayed either positive or neutral affect while their infants responded to pleasant, ambiguous, or aversive toys. On the first trial maternal affect had no effect; on the second trial, positive maternal affect resulted in more positive infant responses, but only for the ambiguous toy. (Author/RH)

While 18 5-month-old infants viewed photographic slides of faces posed in happy, neutral, or angry expressions, a brief acoustic noise burst was presented to elicit the blink component of human startle. It was found that blink size was augmented during the viewing of angry expressions and reduced during viewing of happy expressions. (MDM)

Studied were the responses of infants to new toys presented with either positive, negative, or neutral affective displays by mothers. Responses to stimulus toys were compared with responses to free play toys. Maternal displays influenced responses only to stimulus toys. (PCB)

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)