Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

1.4K
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
1.4K
The Influence of Affect on Cognition01:29

The Influence of Affect on Cognition

436
Positive affect significantly influences cognitive processes, including evaluation, memory, creativity, and social judgments. Compared to negative affect, positive emotional states promote more favorable interpretations of stimuli, cognitive flexibility, and heuristic processing. These effects highlight emotions' powerful role in shaping how individuals perceive, remember, and interact with the world.Influence on Evaluation and AttributionWhen individuals experience positive affect, they are...
436
Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

371
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...
371
Attachment01:20

Attachment

785
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...
785
The Nativist Approach01:21

The Nativist Approach

640
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...
640
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development

2.6K
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...
2.6K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Variability in medial prefrontal cortex responses to smiles in human infants is linked to genetic variation in the oxytocin system.

Social neuroscience·2026
Same author

Gabapentin to achieve HIV viral load suppression in people with risky drinking in Mbarara, Uganda: study protocol for a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial (GRAIL).

Trials·2026
Same author

Rethinking Neanderthal-human divergence.

Trends in cognitive sciences·2026
Same author

High Prevalence of Unhealthy Alcohol Use Among Persons with HIV, Viral Non-suppression and Any Alcohol Use in Mbarara, Uganda: A Brief Report.

AIDS and behavior·2026
Same author

The evolution and development of infant social relationship reasoning: a Tinbergenian analysis.

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2026
Same author

Adapting patient priorities care for older adults with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer: A qualitative inquiry.

Urologic oncology·2026
Same journal

Adolescents and Adults Use Different Facial Movements and Vocal Cues to Express Emotions.

Developmental science·2026
Same journal

Decoding Preschool Social Dynamics: Automated Tracking of Spatial and Temporal Patterns to Investigate Social Interactions and Relationships in Peer Groups.

Developmental science·2026
Same journal

Early Life Stress Affects Human Decision Making by Increasing Expectations of Volatility.

Developmental science·2026
Same journal

The Impact of Intergroup Collaboration on In-Group Bias Between Rohingya Refugee and Bangladeshi Host Community Children.

Developmental science·2026
Same journal

Toddlers' Active Gaze Behavior Supports Self-Supervised Object Learning.

Developmental science·2026
Same journal

Infants' Domain-General Responses to Expectancy Violations.

Developmental science·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 26, 2026

A Within-subjects Experimental Protocol to Assess the Effects of Social Input on Infant EEG
08:20

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

Published on: May 3, 2017

7.2K

Predicting Positive Affect in Infancy.

Tobias Grossmann1, Halle Miller1, Olivia Allison1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA.

Developmental Science
|April 25, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Infant biology and social engagement at 5 months predict positive affect (PA) at 7 months. These infant-specific factors, including CD38 genotype and cortisol, explain 27% of PA variance, highlighting early developmental foundations.

More Related Videos

An Electrophysiology Protocol to Measure Reward Anticipation and Processing in Children
05:04

An Electrophysiology Protocol to Measure Reward Anticipation and Processing in Children

Published on: October 4, 2018

9.9K
A Novel Experimental and Analytical Approach to the Multimodal Neural Decoding of Intent During Social Interaction in Freely-behaving Human Infants
11:14

A Novel Experimental and Analytical Approach to the Multimodal Neural Decoding of Intent During Social Interaction in Freely-behaving Human Infants

Published on: October 4, 2015

13.1K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 26, 2026

A Within-subjects Experimental Protocol to Assess the Effects of Social Input on Infant EEG
08:20

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

Published on: May 3, 2017

7.2K
An Electrophysiology Protocol to Measure Reward Anticipation and Processing in Children
05:04

An Electrophysiology Protocol to Measure Reward Anticipation and Processing in Children

Published on: October 4, 2018

9.9K
A Novel Experimental and Analytical Approach to the Multimodal Neural Decoding of Intent During Social Interaction in Freely-behaving Human Infants
11:14

A Novel Experimental and Analytical Approach to the Multimodal Neural Decoding of Intent During Social Interaction in Freely-behaving Human Infants

Published on: October 4, 2015

13.1K

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Behavioral Genetics
  • Neuroendocrinology

Background:

  • Positive affect (PA) is crucial for health and development.
  • Early origins of PA are not well understood.
  • Investigating infant-specific predictors of early PA is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine infant-specific biological and social-behavioral factors predicting PA.
  • To determine if maternal factors also predict infant PA.
  • To understand the early foundations of positive emotional development.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed infant CD38 genotype, salivary cortisol, and social engagement at 5 months.
  • Measured infant PA using the Positive Emotionality/Surgency (PEm) factor at 7 months.
  • Utilized a pre-registered, longitudinal cohort study with 78 infants and mothers.

Main Results:

  • Infant CD38 genotype (AA/AC) predicted higher PA.
  • Lower infant cortisol levels were associated with higher PA.
  • Higher infant social engagement predicted higher PA.
  • Infant-specific factors explained 27% of the variance in infant PA.
  • Maternal measures did not predict infant PA.

Conclusions:

  • Early positive affect is influenced by infant-specific biological and behavioral factors.
  • CD38 genotype, cortisol, and social engagement are key early predictors of PA.
  • Findings support an infant-centric model of early affective development.