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Clinical Trial
. 2010 Jan-Mar;171(1):35-53.
doi: 10.1080/00221320903300346.

Toddlers' understanding of peers' emotions

Sara R Nichols  1 , Margarita Svetlova, Celia A Brownell
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Toddlers' understanding of peers' emotions

Sara R Nichols et al. J Genet Psychol. 2010 Jan-Mar.

Abstract

The second year of life sees dramatic developments in infants' ability to understand emotions in adults alongside their growing interest in peers. In this study, the authors used a social-referencing paradigm to examine whether 12-, 18-, and 24-month-old children could use a peer's positive or negative emotion messages about toys to regulate their own behavior with the toys. They found that 12-month-olds decreased their play with toys toward which a peer had expressed either positive or negative emotion compared with play following a peer's neutral attention toward a toy. Also, 18-month-olds did not respond systematically, but 24-month-old children increased their toy play after watching a peer display negative affect toward the toy. Regardless of their age, children with siblings decreased their play with toys toward which they had seen a peer display fear, the typical social-referencing response. The authors discuss results in the context of developmental changes in social understanding and peer interaction over the second year of life.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Novel toys used in the current study (adapted from Mumme & Fernald, 2003).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Amount of time children touched the target toy (seconds) as a function of age, neutral vs. emotion trial, and positive vs. negative emotion valence conditions.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Amount of time children touched the target toy (seconds) during the neutral vs. negative emotion trial as a function of sibling status.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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