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Published on: February 25, 2016
Behavioral reactivity and approach-withdrawal bias in infancy
Amie Ashley Hane1, Nathan A Fox, Heather A Henderson
1Department of Psychology, Williams College, Bronfman Science Center, Williamstown, MA 01267, USA. ahane@williams.edu
Abstract:
Seven hundred seventy-nine infants were screened at 4 months of age for motor and emotional reactivity. At age 9 months, infants who showed extreme patterns of motor and negative (n = 75) or motor and positive (n = 73) reactivity and an unselected control group (n = 86) were administered the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery, and baseline electroencephalogram data were collected. Negatively reactive infants showed significantly more avoidance than positively reactive infants and displayed a pattern of right frontal electroencephalogram asymmetry. Positively reactive infants exhibited significantly more approach behavior than controls and exhibited a pattern of left frontal asymmetry. Results support the notion that approach-withdrawal bias underlies reactivity in infancy.
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