Self-recognition emerges during the second year of life and represents the emergence of a reflective self, a metacognition which underlies self-conscious emotions such as embarrassment and shame, perspective taking, and emotional knowledge of others. In a longitudinal study of 171 children, two major questions were explored from an extant…

In 2 separate longitudinal studies, infants and their mothers were seen in 3 longitudinal visits. At 2 months, they were observed in free play where mothers' contingency toward their infants was obtained. At 5 months, a goal blockage response was produced when a previously learned contingent response became ineffective in producing an interesting…

The emotional responses to achievement contexts of 149 preschool children from three cultural groups were observed. The children were Japanese (N = 32), African American (N = 63) and White American of mixed European ancestry (N = 54). The results showed that Japanese children differed from American children in expressing less shame, pride, and…

This study examined the effect of different types of loss of control on the quality and quantity of the frustration response in 4- to 6-month-old infants. To establish an expectancy, all infants received 4 minutes of contingency training in which infants were presented with slides and music after they performed a pulling response with their right…

The purposes of this study are: (1) to attempt to show the weakness of the theory of a two-stage process of attending, i.e. having both separate and ordered focusing and elaborating aspects; and (2) to offer an alternative approach whereby both focusing and elaborating are under the service of cognitive variables. The discussion covers the issue…

Videotape study of preschool children, two to five years of age, and adults who posed the six facial expressions of happiness, surprise, anger, fear, sadness, and disgust. Poses were scored using the MAX system. Results showed that consistent differences between partial and complete poses were observed for negative expressions. (Author/RWB)

Examined relations between reactivity (peak response) and regulation (response dampening) in 6-month-olds' cortisol and behavioral responses to inoculation. Found that reactivity and regulation were unrelated for both cortisol and behavior, suggesting both measures are needed to characterize more accurately infant response to stress. Found…

Examined the effect of maternal soothing to infant inoculation as well as everyday distress on infant cortisol and behavioral responses to stress in two samples of infants between 2 and 6 months of age. Found no evidence that maternal soothing reduced cortisol or behavioral-stress responses, despite evidence for cross-time stability and…

This study examined the behavioral (arm, facial) and autonomic (heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA], and adrenocortical axis) reactivity of 56 4-month-old infants in response to contingency learning and extinction-induced frustration. During learning, infants displayed increases in operant arm response and positive emotional…

This study examined the relation of infant emotional responses of anger and sadness to cortisol response in 2 goal blockage situations. One goal blockage with 4-month-old infants (N=56) involved a contingency learning procedure where infants' learned response was no longer effective in reinstating an event. The other goal blockage with 6-month-old…

This study examined individual differences in 4-year-old children's expression of the self-conscious emotions of embarrassment and shame and their relation to differences in cortisol response to stress. Results indicated the presence of two different types of embarrassment--one that reflected negative evaluation of the self, and the other a…

Examines evaluative behavior of parents toward their young children as a function of child gender, as well as relations between parental evaluation comments and children's emotional behavior (expressions of shame and pride). Results with 30 3-year-olds show gender differences in parental evaluation. (SLD)

Two experiments examined how different frustration contexts affect the instrumental and emotional responses of 4- to 5-month-olds. Both experiments showed that arm responses increased when the contingent stimulus was lost or reduced but decreased when control of the stimulus was lost under noncontingency. Facial expressions of anger, but not…

Examined arousal regulation as a function of levels of prenatal cocaine exposure in 4-month-olds, using a "still face" procedure. Found that, independent of several other factors, a greater percentage of heavily cocaine-exposed infants, compared to unexposed infants, showed less enjoyment during "en face" play with their mothers and continued to…

Examined the expression of shame and pride in maltreated and nonmaltreated children. Subjects were 84 4- and 5-year-olds and their mothers. Found that maltreated girls showed more shame when they failed and less pride when they succeeded than nonmaltreated girls. (MOK)