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ACQUISITION OF SOCIAL REFERENCING VIA DISCRIMINATION TRAINING IN INFANTS
Author(s) -
Pelaez Martha,
ViruesOrtega Javier,
Gewirtz Jacob L.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.2012.45-23
Subject(s) - psychology , facial expression , multiple baseline design , developmental psychology , extinction (optical mineralogy) , discriminative model , context (archaeology) , object (grammar) , reinforcement , expression (computer science) , cognitive psychology , communication , social psychology , intervention (counseling) , artificial intelligence , paleontology , psychiatry , computer science , biology , programming language
This experiment investigated social referencing as a form of discriminative learning in which maternal facial expressions signaled the consequences of the infant's behavior in an ambiguous context. Eleven 4‐ and 5‐month‐old infants and their mothers participated in a discrimination‐training procedure using an ABAB design. Different consequences followed infants' reaching toward an unfamiliar object depending on the particular maternal facial expression. During the training phases, a joyful facial expression signaled positive reinforcement for the infant reaching for an ambiguous object, whereas a fearful expression signaled aversive stimulation for the same response. Baseline and extinction conditions were implemented as controls. Mothers' expressions acquired control over infants' approach behavior for all participants. All participants ceased to show discriminated responding during the extinction phase. The results suggest that 4‐ and 5‐month‐old infants can learn social referencing via discrimination training.