As humans, we are attuned to the moods and emotions of others. This understanding of emotions enables us to interpret other people's actions on the basis of their emotional displays. However, the development of this capacity is not well understood. Here we show a developmental pattern in 10- and 14-month-old infants' sensitivity to others'…

Comparison of 14 infants of highly educated mothers with 21 infants of less educated mothers indicated that infants' differential vocal responsiveness (DVR) to mother versus stranger was significantly higher among 3-month-olds with highly educated mothers, thereby suggesting that DVR is influenced by environmental factors. (RH)

This demonstration study examines the affective reactions of infants when they imitate or fail to imitate play behavior modeled by an adult. Subjects were twenty-four 18-month-old and twenty-four 24-month-old male and female infants. Each infant visited the laboratory twice with an inter-session interval of 48 hours. At each session, the infant…