Parental presence switches avoidance to attraction learning in children.

ABSTRACT: Attachment-related learning (that is, forming preferences for cues associated with the parent) defies the traditional rules of learning in that it seems to occur independently of apparent reinforcement¹-young children prefer cues associated with their parent, regardless of valence (rewarding or aversive), despite the diversity of parenting styles². This obligatory attraction for parental cues keeps the child nearby and safe to explore the environment; thus, it is critical for survival and sets the foundation for normal human cognitive-emotional behaviour. Here we examined the learning underlying this attraction in preschool-age children. Young children underwent an aversive conditioning procedure either in the parent's presence or alone. We showed that despite disliki

SUBMITTER: Tottenham N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7218758 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature