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Emotional reactions in children: Verbal, physiological, and behavioral responses to affective pictures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2001

MARK H. McMANIS ,
MARGARET M. BRADLEY ,
W. KEITH BERG ,
BRUCE N. CUTHBERT  and
PETER J. LANG
MARK H. McMANIS
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA Mark McManis is now at the Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 33 Kirkland St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
MARGARET M. BRADLEY
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
W. KEITH BERG
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
BRUCE N. CUTHBERT
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA Bruce Cuthbert is now at the National Institutes of Health.
PETER J. LANG
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
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Abstract

Many studies have shown a consistent pattern in adults' responses to affective pictures and there is growing evidence of gender differences, as well. Little is known, though, about children's verbal, behavioral, and physiological responses to affective pictures. Two experiments investigated children's responses to pictures. In Experiment 1, children, adolescents, and adults viewed pictures varying in affective content and rated them for pleasure, arousal, and dominance. Results indicated that children and adolescents rated the pictures similarly to adults. In Experiment 2, physiological responses, self-report, and viewing time were measured while children viewed affective pictures. As with adults, children's responses reflected the affective content of the pictures. Gender differences in affective evaluations, corrugator activity, skin conductance, startle modulation, and viewing time indicated that girls were generally more reactive to unpleasant materials.

Keywords

ChildrenStartleEmotionPicturesRatings
Type
Research Article
Information
Psychophysiology , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , March 2001 , pp. 222 - 231
Copyright
2001 Society for Psychophysiological Research

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