TY - JOUR
T1 - Mother knows best
T2 - Effects of maternal modelling on the acquisition of fear and avoidance behaviour in toddlers
AU - Gerull, Friederike C.
AU - Rapee, Ronald M.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - The present study was conducted to investigate the influence of parental modelling on the acquisition of fear and avoidance towards novel, fear-relevant stimuli in a sample of 30 toddlers. The toddlers were shown a rubber snake and spider, which were alternately paired with either negative or positive facial expressions by their mothers. Both stimuli were presented again after a 1- and a 10-min delay, while mothers maintained a neutral expression. The children showed greater fear expressions and avoidance of the stimuli following negative reactions from their mothers. This was true for both genders although the degree of modelled avoidance was greater in girls than in boys. The strong observational learning results are consistent with views that modelling constitutes a mechanism by which fear may be acquired early in life.
AB - The present study was conducted to investigate the influence of parental modelling on the acquisition of fear and avoidance towards novel, fear-relevant stimuli in a sample of 30 toddlers. The toddlers were shown a rubber snake and spider, which were alternately paired with either negative or positive facial expressions by their mothers. Both stimuli were presented again after a 1- and a 10-min delay, while mothers maintained a neutral expression. The children showed greater fear expressions and avoidance of the stimuli following negative reactions from their mothers. This was true for both genders although the degree of modelled avoidance was greater in girls than in boys. The strong observational learning results are consistent with views that modelling constitutes a mechanism by which fear may be acquired early in life.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0036164979&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0005-7967(01)00013-4
DO - 10.1016/S0005-7967(01)00013-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 11863238
AN - SCOPUS:0036164979
VL - 40
SP - 279
EP - 287
JO - Behaviour Research and Therapy
JF - Behaviour Research and Therapy
SN - 0005-7967
IS - 3
ER -