Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Analysis of Electrocardiograms and Behavior in Mice from Pregnancy to Lactation Period
06:40

Analysis of Electrocardiograms and Behavior in Mice from Pregnancy to Lactation Period

Published on: April 5, 2024

Infant physiological response to the still-face paradigm: contributions of maternal sensitivity and infants' early

Elisabeth Conradt1, Jennifer Ablow

  • 1Psychology Department, 1227 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1227, United States. econradt@uoregon.edu

Infant Behavior & Development
|March 9, 2010
PubMed

The current study examined the independent and additive contributions of maternal sensitivity measured prior to and following a social stressor, and infant behaviors to infants' physiological response to the still-face paradigm (SFP) in a sample characterized by poverty-related environmental risk. Ninety-one mother/infant dyads participated in the SFP when their infants were 5 months old. Maternal sensitivity was coded during the play and reunion episodes. Infant behaviors were coded during the reunion episode of the SFP while measures of heart rate (HR) and Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) were collected from the infants at baseline and across the SFP. Maternal sensitivity during the reunion episode predicted infants' biobehavioral reactivity and regulation, over and above maternal sensitivity during the play episode. Infants' HR decreased, and RSA increased, with greater levels of maternal sensitivity during the reunion episode. Infants also exhibited greater attentional engagement and fewer resistant behaviors with greater levels of maternal sensitivity during the reunion episode. Finally, infant behaviors predicted change in HR and RSA from the still-face to the reunion episode, above and beyond that of maternal behaviors. These findings further our understanding of the dyadic basis for the development of emotion regulation in infancy.

More Related Videos

Profiling Maternal Behavior Responses During Whole-Brain Imaging07:12

Profiling Maternal Behavior Responses During Whole-Brain Imaging

Published on: January 24, 2025

A Within-subjects Experimental Protocol to Assess the Effects of Social Input on Infant EEG08:20

A Within-subjects Experimental Protocol to Assess the Effects of Social Input on Infant EEG

Published on: May 3, 2017

Related Concept Videos

Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Attachment01:20

Attachment

Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that physical...
Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development

The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
Exploration...
The Nativist Approach01:21

The Nativist Approach

The nativist approach to infant cognitive development proposes that infants are born with inherent knowledge structures that allow them to interpret the world almost immediately. This perspective contrasts with earlier developmental theories, such as those proposed by Jean Piaget, which emphasized a more gradual acquisition of cognitive abilities through interaction with the environment. One key concept in this approach is object permanence — the understanding that objects continue to exist...
Parental Care00:55

Parental Care

Many animals exhibit parental care behavior, including feeding, grooming, and protecting young offspring. Parental care is universal in mammals and birds, which often have young that are born relatively helpless. Several species of insects and fish, as well as some amphibians, also care for their young.