Responses of Six-Month-Olds to the Distress of Their Peers

Abstract

Observations of 12 pairs of 6-month-old infants interacting in a laboratory playroom in the presence of both mothers indicated that the estimated frequency, duration, and temporal distribution of one infant's distressed vocalizations were statistically independent of those of the peer. The absence of toys in the environment was a reliable predictor of the extent of an infant's distress, whereas the peer's estimated frequency and duration of distress and the infant's own gender and locomotor status were not. Infants watched their distressed peers during a majority of distress episodes and occasionally directed other behaviors to them but only rarely became distressed themselves. However, there were some indications in the pattern of distress in the trial when toys were absent that suggest one infant's distress had cumulative effects on the peer. Such cumulative effects would seem to be tempered by environmental conditions and the reactions of caregivers.

Infant Pupil Diameter Changes in Response to Others' Positive and Negative Emotions

“…Our results support only partially these hypotheses. Observing others' negative emotions induces autonomic arousal in both younger and older infants as has been previously shown [9], [12], [16], [18]. Peer's positive emotions triggered as well larger pupil diameter compared to the emotionally neutral states, although during limited time windows.…”

“…In all three videos, the infants were recorded from the upper body part/torso and head, in a supine position. Infants' vocal and facial displays are socially relevant stimuli and have been previously shown to trigger emotional responses in their peers [18], [46].…”

“…This tendency to respond with matching emotional responses to other's negative affect persists throughout infancy [12], [17], [18], however, less is known about infants' emotional resonance to the positive emotions perceived in others. Limited direct evidence suggests that young infants respond emotionally to both the positive and the negative emotions observed in others.…”

The roots of empathy: Through the lens of rodent models

“…While newborns display uninhibited emotional contagion (they cry when hearing other babies cry), already at the age of six months they become capable of distinguishing the distress of others from their own emotional state (Hay et al 1981). They then move to more complex manifestations of both emotional and cognitive empathy (Roth-Hanania et al., 2011), with the age of two years serving as a key developmental milestone for empathy and prosocial development.…”

Definitions and Developmental Processes in Research on Infant Morality

“…Yet, this kind of developmental continuity cannot be taken for granted, especially if the nature of the abilities present in infants is qualitatively different from that present later (for instance “friend-and-foe-detection” vs. impartial concepts of right and wrong). The neonatal empathic cry – often taken as a prime example of an innate moral propensity (although see Campos et al [2008]) – appears to disappear over the course of the first year, before prosocial, behavioral responses to distress emerge in the second year of life (Hay, Nash, & Pedersen, 1981; Hoffman, 2007; Sagi & Hoffman, 1976). To my knowledge, only one study has investigated and documented a relation between infant performance on a socio-cognitive looking time task and socio-cognitive abilities (performance on a theory of mind task) in preschoolers (Yamaguchi, Kuhlmeier, Wynn, & vanMarle, 2009).…”