Douglas S. Ramsay

Cortisol Response to Embarrassment and Shame

This study examined individual differences in 4-year-old childrens (N = 60) expression of the self-conscious emotions of embarrassment and shame and their relation to differences in cortisol response to stress. Results indicated the presence of two different types of embarrassment--one that reflected negative evaluation of the self, and the other a nonevaluative type that reflected simply exposure of the self when the individual was the object of attention of others. Results also indicated a relation between a higher cortisol response to stress and the greater expression of the self-conscious emotions of evaluative embarrassment and shame that reflected negative self-evaluation.

Effects of modeling action sequences on the play of twelve-, fifteen-, and nineteen-month-old children.

3 studies examined the relation between the spontaneous occurrence in play of simple 2-part action sequences and the frequency of these sequences and their components following modeling at 12, 15, and 19 months of age. Play following modeling was typically more advanced than play preceding modeling. Moreover, imitation was tied to developmental level. Children at 19 months of age were generally able to imitate complete sequences, though only a few 19-month-olds performed such actions spontaneously. Children at 15 months of age typically did not imitate complete sequences except under simplified experimental conditions, and, even then, their ability to perform sequences was attenuated relative to the 19-month-olds. However, 15-month-olds did imitate many single components of the 2-part combinations and, to a lesser extent, exhibited these components spontaneously. A smaller number of 12-month-olds imitated components, which were rarely displayed spontaneously at this age. The results suggested that a general combinatorial capacity in play emerges between 15 and 19 months of age.

Reactivity and regulation in children prenatally exposed to cocaine.

Children prenatally exposed to cocaine may be at elevated risk for adjustment problems in early development because of greater reactivity and reduced regulation during challenging tasks. Few studies have examined whether cocaine-exposed children show such difficulties during the preschool years, a period marked by increased social and cognitive demands and by rapid changes in reactivity and regulation. The authors addressed this question by examining frustration reactivity and regulation of behavior during a problem-solving task in cocaine-exposed and -unexposed preschoolers. Participants were 174 4.5-year-olds (M age = 4.55 years, SD = 0.09). Frustration reactivity was measured as latency to show frustration and number of disruptive behaviors, whereas regulation was measured as latency to approach and attempt the problem-solving task and number of problem-solving behaviors. Results indicated that cocaine-exposed children took longer to attempt the problem-solving task but that cocaine-exposed boys showed the most difficulties: They were quicker to express frustration and were more disruptive. Effect sizes were relatively small, suggesting both resilience and vulnerabilities.

Organization and lateralization of reaching in infants: An extension of Bresson et al.

This study tested whether the development of one-handed and collaborative two-handed reaching for an object on a support found by Bresson et al. (Neuropsychologia 15, 311-320, 1977) was related to the fluctuation in hand preference for manipulation and/or banging following duplicated syllable babbling onset found by Ramsay (Devl Psychol. 20, 64-71, 1984). Ramsay found that a preference for object manipulation and/or banging with the right hand emerged on the week of babbling onset, temporarily disappeared 3-4 weeks later and then re-emerged on the subsequent (fifth) week. In the present study, a preference for one-handed reaching with the right hand for objects on a support was present only on the fifth week after babbling onset. No evidence was found for a hand preference in collaborative two-handed reaching.