Work

Infants’ Selective Visual Attention Is Dependent on Maternal Affect and Emotional Context

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: Development of selective attention during the first year of life is critical to cognitive and socio-emotional skills. It is also a period that the average child’s interactions with their mother dominate their social environment. This study examined how maternal negative affect and an emotion face prime (mother/stranger) jointly effect selective visual attention. Results from linear mixed-effects modeling showed that 9-month olds (N=70) were faster to find a visual search target after viewing a fearful face (regardless of familiarity) or their mother’s angry face. For mothers with high negative affect, infants’ attention was further impacted by fearful faces, resulting in faster search times. Face emotion interacted with mother’s negative affect, demonstrating a capacity to influence what infants attend in their environment.

Source: Frontiers in Psychology

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.700272

Authors: Joshua Juvrud, Sara A. Haas, Nathan A. Fox, Gustaf Gredebäck

Institutions: Uppsala University, University of Maryland, College Park

Language: English

Topic: Child and Animal Learning Development

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,950