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Classical Short-Delay Eyeblink Conditioning in One-Year-Old Children
07:36

Classical Short-Delay Eyeblink Conditioning in One-Year-Old Children

Published on: September 1, 2018

Development and manipulation of spontaneous eye blinking in the first year: relationships to context and positive

L F Bacher1

  • 1Department of Psychology, SUNY Oswego, 7060 State Rt 104 West, Oswego, NY, 13126. leigh.bacher@oswego.edu.

Developmental Psychobiology
|September 10, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Infant spontaneous eye blinking (SEB) changes with age and stimulus type, linking to approach-inhibition behaviors by 12 months. Dopamine

Area of Science:

  • Developmental psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Spontaneous eye blinking (SEB) in primates is dopamine-regulated.
  • Dopamine influences infant temperament, including approach-inhibition behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the development of SEB in infants.
  • To investigate the relationship between SEB and approach-inhibition behavior from 4 to 12 months.
  • To examine how experimental conditions affect SEB and its link to behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study with 74 healthy, full-term infants.
  • Observed SEB at 4 and 12 months during baseline and stimulus conditions.
  • Assessed approach-inhibition responses to presented stimuli.

Main Results:

  • Experimental conditions altered blink rates differently across ages and stimulus types.
  • At 12 months, SEB individual differences correlated with positive affect in approach-inhibition tasks.
  • Distinct developmental changes were observed in blink rate regulation related to cognitive and social behaviors.

Conclusions:

  • SEB regulation mechanisms show distinct, age-dependent relationships with cognitive and social behaviors.
  • The study highlights the evolving link between spontaneous eye blinking and approach-inhibition in early development.

Keywords:
approach-inhibitiondopaminehuman infantspositive affectspontaneous eye blinkingvisual attention

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