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Florida Atlantic Undergraduate Research Journal

College

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Developmental science has documented that infants’ emotional reactions are shaped by individual dispositions and their environment. This study investigated fear responses along with patterns of brain development in infants 6 to 10 months. Nine infant-mother dyads participated, with each infant observed twice (18 visits). An electroencephalogram (EEG) was used to analyze brain activity during resting-state and fear-eliciting conditions. Infant fear vocalizations were evaluated and coded during two conditions, i.e., an unfamiliar object (an electronic toy-spider), and an unfamiliar adult approaching. Results indicated infants’ fear vocalizations were stimuli-specific, with more fear expressed towards approaching strangers than the novel object. Findings also showed a relationship between heightened fearful vocalizations towards strangers in certain infants and right frontal-region EEG asymmetry. These findings support that infant fear responses vary based on the type of fear-eliciting stimuli as well as the role of individual dispositions, with patterns of infant right frontal EEG asymmetry linked to temperamental fear.

Advisors

Nancy Aaron Jones

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