Infants' responses to attentional and emotional cues

婴儿对注意力和情绪暗示的反应

• 批准号: 7140755
• 负责人: BETTY M REPACHOLI
• 金额: $ 7.44万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-09-22 至 2008-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7140755
• 关键词: attention; behavior prediction; behavior test; behavioral /social science research tag; child psychology; clinical research; cues; developmental psychology; early experience; emotions; human subject; imitative behavior; infant human (0-1 year); learning; locus of control; stimulus /response

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed studies will explore 12-18 month old infants' ability to use other people as a source of information about the world. Specifically, this research will determine whether a) infant imitation is influenced by emotional displays that do not directly involve them (i.e., indirect emotional cues) and b) whether infants take into account the attentional state of the person providing the emotional information. To investigate these issues, a new experimental paradigm has been developed and successfully employed in two preliminary studies. Infants watch an Experimenter demonstrating an action on an object. The Emoter (an unfamiliar adult) expresses either Anger or Neutral affect in response to the Experimenter's actions. Infants are then given an opportunity to play with the object themselves. During this time, the Emoter's behavior is manipulated so that she can either see or not see what the infant is doing with the object. If infants are loathe to imitate after watching the Emoter express anger about the Experimenter's actions, it implies that infants expect the Emoter to express further anger if they themselves were to produce the modeled action. This suggests that they understand how actions are linked to emotions. If infants also recognize the importance of attentional cues, they should be more likely to imitate when the angry adult is unable to see what they are doing with the object. For instance, if the Emoter subsequently reads a magazine, closes her eyes or wears a blindfold, infants should not expect her to become angry when they play with the object. This would imply that infants appreciate how people's visual experiences influence their emotional reactions. In sum, this research will provide new insight into how other people's emotional reactions can influence infants' interpretation of the world and how infants use this type of emotional information to guide their own behavior. For instance, by observing how one person emotionally responds to another person's actions, infants may begin to learn about the social and/or moral significance of their own actions. These studies will also extend what is known about children's earliest understanding of other people's mental states. The ability to understand other people's minds - what they might be thinking, feeling, perceiving or wanting - is essential for successful peer relationships and other positive social behaviors.

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议的研究将探讨 12-18 个月大的婴儿利用他人作为了解世界的信息来源的能力。具体来说，这项研究将确定：a）婴儿的模仿是否受到不直接涉及他们的情绪表现（即间接情绪暗示）的影响；b）婴儿是否考虑了提供情绪信息的人的注意力状态。为了研究这些问题，开发了一种新的实验范式，并成功应用于两项初步研究。婴儿观看实验者在物体上演示动作。表情者（一个不熟悉的成年人）对实验者的行为做出反应，表达愤怒或中性情感。然后婴儿就有机会自己玩这个物体。在此期间，Emoter 的行为受到控制，以便她可以看到或看不到婴儿正在对物体做什么。如果婴儿在看到表情器对实验者的行为表达愤怒后不愿意模仿，这意味着婴儿希望表情器在他们自己做出模仿的动作时表达进一步的愤怒。这表明他们了解行为如何与情绪联系起来。如果婴儿也认识到注意力线索的重要性，那么当愤怒的成年人看不到他们正在对物体做什么时，他们应该更有可能模仿。例如，如果 Emoter 随后阅读杂志、闭上眼睛或戴上眼罩，婴儿不应期望她在玩该物体时会生气。这意味着婴儿欣赏人们的视觉体验如何影响他们的情绪反应。总之，这项研究将为了解其他人的情绪反应如何影响婴儿对世界的解释以及婴儿如何使用此类情绪信息来指导自己的行为提供新的见解。例如，通过观察一个人如何对另一个人的行为做出情感反应，婴儿可能会开始了解自己行为的社会和/或道德意义。这些研究还将扩展人们对儿童对其他人心理状态的最早理解的了解。理解他人想法的能力——他们可能在想什么、感觉、感知或想要什么——对于成功的同伴关系和其他积极的社会行为至关重要。