TODDLERS REACTIONS TO NEGATIVE EMOTION DISPLAYS - FORMING MODELS OF RELATIONSHIPS

Twenty-four children between 18 and 24 months were exposed to two peop le interacting in a neutral way and two people having a negative emoti onal interchange. In the emotion condition, they saw either anger or s adness at equal levels of intensity. Anger was enacted with an argumen tative and hostile voice which was raised but short of yelling. For sa dness, actresses spoke in loud voices, sobbed, whined, and wailed. The children's vocalizations, constructive play, looks to mother, gaze to experimenters, and proximity to mother were coded In response to the negative emotion, children stopped activities and attended to the inte rchange. They stopped exploring, vocalizing, and playing constructivel y. No differences in children's behavior were noted for anger versus s adness. Children's behavior was affected by the order in which they sa w the neutral or emotional interchange. When they saw the negative emo tion interchange first, they reacted to the neutral condition as if th ey were being exposed to a negative interchange. Results are discussed in terms of the development of models of relationships, organized aro und emotional interchanges.