title: Influences of witnessed affect on information processing in children.
abstract: Children between the ages of 5 and 10 years watched a videotape of a child having a routine medical exam. Embedded within the scenes were systematic variations of depicted facial affect shown by doctor and child. Measures were taken of autonomic reactions and information-processing errors in response to positive, neutral, and negative affective cues. For 5-6-year-olds, processing errors were greatest in the negative affect condition. Additionally, peak increases in heart rate (HR) and skin conductance level (SCL) were demonstrated by 5-6-year-olds in response to negative affect shown by the witnessed child; increases in HR were in turn predictive of processing errors. Older children (9-10 years) showed trends reflecting reduced processing errors in response to witnessed negative affect. It was suggested that younger children respond to salient threat cues with a "defensive" response pattern that is relatively adaptive at younger but not older ages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106.
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Bugental
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blue
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cortez
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fleck
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D001143:Arousal; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D011939:Mental Recall; D010553:Personality Development; D012931:Social Environment