 

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2017

Publication Title

PLoS One

ISSN

1932-6203

Volume

12

Issue

6

First Page

0178864

Last Page

0178864

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0178864

PubMed ID

28617816

Abstract

Neonatal imitation is the matching of (often facial) gestures by newborn infants. Some studies suggest that performance of facial gestures is due to general arousal, which may produce false positives on neonatal imitation assessments. Here we examine whether arousal is linked to facial gesturing in newborn infant rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). We tested 163 infants in a neonatal imitation paradigm in their first postnatal week and analyzed their lipsmacking gestures (a rapid opening and closing of the mouth), tongue protrusion gestures, and yawn responses (a measure of arousal). Arousal increased during dynamic stimulus presentation compared to the static baseline across all conditions, and arousal was higher in the facial gestures conditions than the nonsocial control condition. However, even after controlling for arousal, we found a condition-specific increase in facial gestures in infants who matched lipsmacking and tongue protrusion gestures. Thus, we found no support for the arousal hypothesis. Consistent with reports in human newborns, imitators' propensity to match facial gestures is based on abilities that go beyond mere arousal. We discuss optimal testing conditions to minimize potentially confounding effects of arousal on measurements of neonatal imitation.

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{"cc_re__cc_re__cc_by_4_0": ["atched lipsmacking and tongue protrusion gestures. Thus, we found no support for the arousal hypothesis. Consistent with reports in human newborns, imitators' propensity to match facial gestures is based on abilities that go beyond mere arousal. We discuss optimal testing conditions to minimize potentially confounding effects of arousal on measurements of neonatal imitation.</p>\n</div>\n<div class='clear'></div>\n<div id='distribution_license' class='element'>\n<h4>Creative Commons License</h4>\n<p><a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\"><img alt=\"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License\" src=\"https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png\" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License</a>.</p>\n</div>\n<div class='clear'></div>\n<div id='recommended_citation' class='element'>\n<h4>Recommended Citation</h4>\n<!-- FILE: /main/production/doc/data/assets/site/ir_series/ir_citation.inc --><p>\n    Paukner, Annika; Pedersen, Eric J; and Simpson, El", " on abilities that go beyond mere arousal. We discuss optimal testing conditions to minimize potentially confounding effects of arousal on measurements of neonatal imitation.</p>\n</div>\n<div class='clear'></div>\n<div id='distribution_license' class='element'>\n<h4>Creative Commons License</h4>\n<p><a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\"><img alt=\"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License\" src=\"https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png\" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License</a>.</p>\n</div>\n<div class='clear'></div>\n<div id='recommended_citation' class='element'>\n<h4>Recommended Citation</h4>\n<!-- FILE: /main/production/doc/data/assets/site/ir_series/ir_citation.inc --><p>\n    Paukner, Annika; Pedersen, Eric J; and Simpson, Elizabeth A, \"Testing the arousal hypothesis of neonatal imitation in infant rhesus macaques.\" (2017). <em>Psychology and Neuroscience Faculty Contributions</em>.  25.\n    <br>\n    \n    \n        https://sc"], "copyright__copyright__copyright": ["o matched lipsmacking and tongue protrusion gestures. Thus, we found no support for the arousal hypothesis. Consistent with reports in human newborns, imitators' propensity to match facial gestures is based on abilities that go beyond mere arousal. We discuss optimal testing conditions to minimize potentially confounding effects of arousal on measurements of neonatal imitation.\n\nCreative Commons License\n\n\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.\n\nShare\n\nCOinS\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0", "o matched lipsmacking and tongue protrusion gestures. Thus, we found no support for the arousal hypothesis. Consistent with reports in human newborns, imitators' propensity to match facial gestures is based on abilities that go beyond mere arousal. We discuss optimal testing conditions to minimize potentially confounding effects of arousal on measurements of neonatal imitation.\n\nCreative Commons License\n\n\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.\n\nShare\n\nCOinS\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0", "o matched lipsmacking and tongue protrusion gestures. Thus, we found no support for the arousal hypothesis. Consistent with reports in human newborns, imitators' propensity to match facial gestures is based on abilities that go beyond mere arousal. We discuss optimal testing conditions to minimize potentially confounding effects of arousal on measurements of neonatal imitation.\n\nCreative Commons License\n\n\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.\n\nShare\n\nCOinS\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0", "o matched lipsmacking and tongue protrusion gestures. Thus, we found no support for the arousal hypothesis. Consistent with reports in human newborns, imitators' propensity to match facial gestures is based on abilities that go beyond mere arousal. We discuss optimal testing conditions to minimize potentially confounding effects of arousal on measurements of neonatal imitation.\n\nCreative Commons License\n\n\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.\n\nShare\n\nCOinS\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0", "o matched lipsmacking and tongue protrusion gestures. Thus, we found no support for the arousal hypothesis. Consistent with reports in human newborns, imitators' propensity to match facial gestures is based on abilities that go beyond mere arousal. We discuss optimal testing conditions to minimize potentially confounding effects of arousal on measurements of neonatal imitation.\n\nCreative Commons License\n\n\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.\n\nShare\n\nCOinS\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0"]}