Implicit learning and emotional responses in nine-month-old infants.

ABSTRACT: To study the interplay between motor learning and emotional responses of young infants, we developed a contingent learning paradigm that included two related, difficult, operant tasks. We also coded facial expression to characterise emotional response to learning. In a sample of nine-month-old healthy Chinese infants, 44.7% achieved learning threshold during this challenging arm-conditioning test. Some evidence of learning was observed at the beginning of the second task. The lowest period of negative emotions coincided with the period of maximum movement responses after the initiation of the second task, and movement responses negatively correlated with the frequency of negative emotions. Positive emotions, while generally low throughout the task, increased during peak performance especia

SUBMITTER: Angulo-Barroso RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5097020 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature