The Effects of Positive Maternal Affect on Infant Responses to Pleasant, Ambiguous, and Fear-Provoking Toys

Gunnar, Megan R.; Stone, Cheryl

doi:10.2307/1129992

Cited by 122 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The results were inconsistent in terms of toddlers' reactions towards pleasant, ambiguous, and aversive objects. Whereas Gunnar and Stone (1984) only found a significant effect of maternal expression for the ambiguous toy but not for the fear-relevant or the fearirrelevant toy, Hornik et al (1987) found more positive responses and more approach towards the pleasant toy than towards the ambiguous and aversive toys. Therefore, fear acquisition effects have not been demonstrated in response to fear-irrelevant stimuli.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…The children ranged from 15 to 20 months of age, with a mean of 17.39 (SD=1.83) months. The age range of the study was influenced by findings that by the end of the first year of life the infant is capable of evaluating stimuli and events using the emotional responses of others (Gunnar and Stone 1984). The sample consisted of 44 girls (62%) and 27 boys (38%).…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, only two studies have used fearirrelevant (unprepared) stimuli (Gunnar and Stone 1984;Hornik et al 1987). Twelve to thirteen-month old children were presented with one pleasant, one ambiguous, and one aversive toy, while their mother reacted with positive and then neutral expressions (Gunnar and Stone 1984) or either positive, negative, or neutral, and then neutral expressions (Hornik et al 1987). The results were inconsistent in terms of toddlers' reactions towards pleasant, ambiguous, and aversive objects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Maternal Modeling and the Acquisition of Fear and Avoidance in Toddlers: Influence of Stimulus Preparedness and Child Temperament

Dubi

Rapee

Emerton

et al. 2007

J Abnorm Child Psychol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of maternal modeling on the acquisition of fear and avoidance towards fear-relevant and fear-irrelevant, novel stimuli in a sample of 71 toddlers. Children were shown a rubber snake or spider (fear-relevant objects) and a rubber mushroom or flower (fear-irrelevant objects), which were alternately paired with either negative or positive expression by their mothers. Both stimuli were presented again after a 1-and a 10-min delay, while mothers maintained a neutral expression. The toddlers showed increased fear and avoidance of the objects following negative reaction from their mothers than following positive maternal expression. This was similarly true for both fearrelevant and fear-irrelevant stimuli. In addition, no association was found between child temperament and behavioral responses and a weak association emerged between child temperament and emotional responses. The results demonstrate that young children can rapidly form conditioned emotional and behavioral responses via maternal reactions regardless of stimulus preparedness or child temperament. It is suggested that early maternal modeling may be relevant to a broad spectrum of fearful reactions.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Maternal Modeling and the Acquisition of Fear and Avoidance in Toddlers: Influence of Stimulus Preparedness and Child Temperament

Dubi

Rapee

Emerton

et al. 2007

J Abnorm Child Psychol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Throughout each feed, the mothers wore the mask and refrained from talking to eliminate any potential influence of facial or verbal responses on the infants' feeding behaviors [16]. In Study 1, mothers were given one jar of food and fed their infants at their customary pace until the child rejected the food on three consecutive times using the criterion that the infant exhibited behaviors such as turning his or her head away, pushing the spoon away, crying, or becoming playful.…”

Section: Monell Test Sessions-mentioning

confidence: 99%

Variety is the spice of life: Strategies for promoting fruit and vegetable acceptance during infancy

Mennella

Nicklaus

Jagolino

et al. 2008

Physiology & Behavior

219

138

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present manuscript describes two experimental studies that were conducted to explore the effects of an 8-day exposure to a particular food or a variety of foods between and/or within meals on fruit and vegetable acceptance in 74 infants. Whether the dietary experience modified acceptance depended on the flavors of foods experienced, whether the experience occurred between or within meals or both, and whether the target food was a fruit or vegetable. In the first study, we found that 8 days of dietary exposure to pears or a variety of fruits between meals (not including pears) resulted in greater consumption of pears by the infants but this increased acceptance did not generalize to green beans. In the second study, we found that 8 days of vegetable variety both between and within meals led to increased acceptance of green beans, carrots and spinach. Those infants who experienced green beans alone or a variety of vegetables between meals also tended to eat more green beans after the exposure. These findings suggest that not only can infants clearly discriminate flavors but repeated opportunities to taste a particular or a varietyof foods may promote willingness to eat fruits and vegetables, the consumption of which is generally low in the pediatric population and the acceptance of which is difficult to enhance beyond toddlerhood.

show abstract

“…This finding established the idea that infants can use familiar adults' emotions to regulate their behavior. Gunnar and Stone (1984) evaluated infants' reactions to the presentation of maternal displays of positive versus neutral affect after the presentation of novel objects to which infants' baseline response was positive, negative, or ambiguous. Their investigation revealed that, under the positive maternal display condition, infants responded congruently only for the ambiguous toy.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

12-month-old infants allocate increased neural resources to stimuli associated with negative adult emotion.

Carver

Vaccaro

2007

Developmental Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Young infants use caregivers' emotional expressions to guide their behavior in novel, ambiguous situations. This skill, known as social referencing, likely involves at least 3 separate abilities: (a) looking at an adult in an unfamiliar situation, (b) associating that adult's emotion with the novel situation, and (c) regulating their own emotions in response to the adult's emotional display. The authors measured each of these elements individually as well as how they related to each other. The results revealed that 12-month-olds allocated more attention, as indicated by event-related potential measures, to stimuli associated with negative adult emotion than to those associated with positive or neutral emotion. Infants' interaction with their caregiver was affected by adult emotional displays. In addition, how quickly infants referenced an adult predicted both their brain activity in response to pictures of stimuli associated with negative emotion as well as some aspects of their behavior regulation. The results are discussed with respect to their significance for understanding why infants reference and regulate their behavior in response to adult emotion. Suggestions for further research are provided.

show abstract

The Effects of Positive Maternal Affect on Infant Responses to Pleasant, Ambiguous, and Fear-Provoking Toys

Cited by 122 publications

References 5 publications

Maternal Modeling and the Acquisition of Fear and Avoidance in Toddlers: Influence of Stimulus Preparedness and Child Temperament

Maternal Modeling and the Acquisition of Fear and Avoidance in Toddlers: Influence of Stimulus Preparedness and Child Temperament

Variety is the spice of life: Strategies for promoting fruit and vegetable acceptance during infancy

12-month-old infants allocate increased neural resources to stimuli associated with negative adult emotion.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About