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Moral content influences facial emotion processing development during early-to-middle childhood
journal contribution
posted on 2023-02-08, 23:09 authored by FJ Bigelow, Gillian ClarkGillian Clark, Jarrad LumJarrad Lum, Peter EnticottPeter EnticottFacial emotions are often processed in light of moral information, which can assist in predicting and interpreting the intentions of another. Neurophysiological measures of facial emotion processing (FEP) may be sensitive to moral content. Relatively little is known, however, about the relationship between moral content and FEP during early-to-middle childhood, and how this relationship may change across development. Eighty-four children aged 4–12 years completed a task assessing whether child faces primed within the moral harm/care domain influenced face sensitive event-related potentials (ERPs; N170 and LPP). Results demonstrated that N170 amplitude decreased with age for faces primed with positive moral content, whilst LPP amplitude decreased with age for faces primed with negative moral content. Collectively, this suggests that morally relevant content within the harm/care domain is integrated during the early stages of FEP in early-to-middle childhood. Moreover, stronger language ability was positively correlated with the LPP for fearful faces primed with negative moral content. Overall, findings provide novel evidence to suggest that FEP development may be modulated by moral content, and emotion-specific results may be influenced by language. Findings from this research highlight the complex relationship between broader social cognitive skills during child development.
History
Journal
NeuropsychologiaVolume
176Article number
108372Pagination
108372-108372Location
EnglandISSN
0028-3932eISSN
1873-3514Language
enPublisher
Elsevier BVUsage metrics
Keywords
ERPsEarly childhoodFEPLanguageMiddle childhoodMoral contentBrain DisordersMind and BodyPediatricBehavioral and Social ScienceClinical ResearchMental HealthBasic Behavioral and Social Science4 Quality EducationCognitive SciencesNeurosciences not elsewhere classifiedPsychology not elsewhere classified
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