XIV° Conference of the International Society for Research on Emotion (ISRE)
Abstract
Modulation of the startle response is an objective indicator of emotionality and attention in infancy and adulthood. In the present study, 13 three-month and 13 five-month-old infants were tested in a new non-invasive whole body acoustic startle protocol. The aim was to investigate the development of the interaction between attention and emotion in the startle modification. While infants were on an infant-seat, interacting with their mothers and playing with objects, a noise burst was presented to elicit the reflex. The infant-seat, opportunely equipped, permitted a computerized measurement of the startle motor response. Each session was videotaped. Attentive behavior was coded frame-by-frame as well as smiling and distress behavior. Only at five months, startle latency was reduced when the infants were engaged in attention relative to control trials. Both groups presented a startle modification based on the dominant, positive or negative, affective state exhibited during the entire session