1. Results
- Repeated-measures ANOVAs analyzed infants’ looking to the emotional reactions. The Valence
model included Event and Valence. The Discrete model included Event and Emotion.
- There was a trending Event x Valence interactions for the Valence model F(2, 63) = 2.97, p = 0.058,
and a significant Event x Emotion interaction for the Discrete model, F(4, 60) = 4.32, p = 0.04.
- Valence Model: Infants in the Fight Over Toy event looked significantly longer at the Positive reaction
than the Negative reactions t(63) = 2.15, p = 0.04.
- Discrete Model: Infants in the Give Toy event looked significantly longer at the Anger reaction than
the Sad, t(60) = 2.00, p = 0.05, and Happy reactions, t(60) = 2.67, p = 0.01. Infants in the Fight Over
Toy event looked significantly longer to the Happy than the Sad, t(60) = 2.02, p = 0.05, and Angry
reactions, t(60) = 1.99, p = 0.05.
** = p < 0.01, * = p < 0.05, Error bars represent +/- 1 SE
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Give Toy Break Toy Fight Over Toy
LookingDuration(Sec)
*
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Give Toy Break Toy Fight Over Toy
*
**
*
*
The Development of Infants' Expectations of Emotional Outcomes
Peter Reschke1, Eric Walle1, Ross Flom, Scott Rowan2, Jens Jesperson2, Darren Guenther2, Rebekah Ehlert2, & Nate Wall2
1University of California, Merced, 2Brigham Young University
Stimuli
Give Toy Break Toy Fight Over Toy
Happy Sad Angry
Introduction
- The ability to predict others’ emotional
reactions to positive and negative outcomes
has been studied extensively in children (Widen
& Russell, 2010, 2011). However, less is known
about this skill in infancy.
- Previous work demonstrated that 10-month-
old infants expected an agent to display a
positive emotion after a positive event (Skerry
& Spelke, 2014; Hepach & Westermann, 2013).
However, these infants failed to demonstrate
similar understanding with negative events.
- Prior research has been limited by the use of
only one positive and one negative emotion.
- The current study sought to examine whether
12-month-old infants’ posses a valence-based
(i.e., positive vs. negative) or a discrete-based
(e.g., sadness ≠ anger) understanding of others’
reactions to positive and negative events using
a violation of expectation paradigm.
Discussion
- Infants exhibited both valence-based emotional
expectations of an agent responding to
negative events and discrete-based
expectations with a positive event. Specifically,
infants looked significantly longer at the
Positive emotions than Negative emotions in
the Fight condition, and looked significantly
longer at the Anger emotion than Joy and
Sadness emotions in the Give condition.
- The current findings extend previous work on
infants’ expectations of others’ emotions
(Skerry & Spelke, 2014; Hepach &
Westermann, 2013), in which 10-month-old
infants failed to differentiate between positive
and negative reactions to negative events. This
particular expectation appears to develop
between 10 and 12 months of age.
- These findings also confirm previous research
showing that infants have emotional
expectations for positive events (see Skerry &
Spelke, 2014; Hepach & Westermann, 2013).
- The inclusion of multiple negative emotions
allowed for the examination of valence- vs.
discrete-based emotional expectations. The
current study showed that 12-month-old
infants possess valence-based emotional
expectations for negative events and discrete-
based expectations for positive events.
- Future studies could consider testing additional
emotions, such as fear, disgust, and surprise.
- Additional ages are needed to clarify the
developmental trajectory of this ability.
Method
Participants
- 12-month-olds: N=23 (10 male; age M=11.87)
Procedure
- Infants viewed videos depicting two adults
engaging in an emotion-eliciting event
followed by an emotional reaction.
- Events and Emotions were “give toy” (happy,
sad, angry), “break toy” (happy, sad, angry),
and “fight over toy” (happy, sad, angry).
- Infants viewed 3 of the 9 possible Event-
Emotion pairings. Order was counterbalanced.
- The duration of infant looking time toward the
emotion was measured until the infant looked
away for 2 consecutive seconds.
We hypothesized that infants would look longer
at incongruent emotional reactions than
congruent emotional reactions.
For more information,
please contact Peter Reschke:
preschke@ucmerced.edu
Research supported by a Psychological Sciences
Research Grant from the
University of California, Merced
Valence Discrete