Physiological and Emotional Reactivity to Learning and Frustration

This study examined the behavioral (arm, facial) 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 expressions. Changes in average RSA(V(NA)) paralleled the observed changes in facial expressions in general and maintained an inverse relation with heart rate throughout most of the session. When frustrated by extinction, infants displayed increases in negative expressions, heart rate, and a brief increase in RSA(V(NA)) followed by a significant decrease. No significant changes were observed for cortisol. These behavioral and facial responses are consistent with earlier work. The physiological changes, along with the facial expressions and instrumental responses, indicate that the autonomic nervous system functions as a coordinated affect system by 4 months of age.