title: Adults' implicit associations to infant positive and negative acoustic cues: Moderation by empathy and gender.
abstract: In this study a novel auditory version of the Single Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT-A) was developed to investigate (a) the valence of adults' associations to infant cries and laughs, (b) moderation of implicit associations by gender and empathy, and (c) the robustness of implicit associations controlling for auditory sensitivity. Eighty adults (50% females) were administered two SC-IAT-As, the Empathy Quotient, and the Weinstein Noise Sensitivity Scale. Adults showed positive implicit associations to infant laugh and negative ones to infant cry; only the implicit associations with the infant laugh were negatively related to empathy scores, and no gender differences were observed. Finally, implicit associations to infant cry were affected by noise sensitivity. The SC-IAT-A is useful to evaluate the valence of implicit reactions to infant auditory cues and could provide fresh insights into understanding processes that regulate the quality of adult-infant relationships.
authors.affiliation: a Psychometric Laboratory, Department of Psychology , Second University of Naples , Caserta , Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo Paolo
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Senese
authors.affiliation: b Department of Cognitive Science and Education , University of Trento , Trento , Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Venuti
authors.affiliation: a Psychometric Laboratory, Department of Psychology , Second University of Naples , Caserta , Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Giordano
authors.affiliation: a Psychometric Laboratory, Department of Psychology , Second University of Naples , Caserta , Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Napolitano
authors.affiliation: c Affiliative and Social Behaviour Lab, Department of Cognitive Science and Education , University of Trento , Trento , Italy.|d Social & Affiliative Neuroscience Lab, Division of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences , Nanyang Technological University , Singapore.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Esposito
authors.affiliation: e Eunice Kennedy Shriver, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health , Bethesda , MD , USA.
authors.forename: Marc H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Bornstein
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001244:Association; D003463:Cues; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D004645:Empathy / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Auditory; Implicit affective associations; Infant cry; Infant laugh; Single Category Implicit Association Test