Child Psychology Commons^™

The Effect Of Parental Smoking On Preadolescents’ Implicit And Explicit Perceptions Of Smoking-Related Cues, Cheryl L. Dickter, Catherine A. Forestell, Sarah Volz

Arts & Sciences Articles

Children of smokers are significantly more likely to experiment with cigarettes and become habitual smokers than children of nonsmokers. The current study examined the effect of parental smoking on children’s implicit and explicit responses toward smoking behavior and smoking-related cues with the goal of identifying potential mechanisms for this relationship. A sample of 8–12-year-old children of smokers (n = 57) and children of nonsmokers (n = 86) completed a dot probe task to assess implicit attentional bias toward smoking cues and the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) to assess implicit affective responses to smoking cues. In addition, children indicated their explicit …

Flavor Perception And Preference Development In Human Infants, Catherine A. Forestell

Arts & Sciences Articles

As most parents and caregivers are aware, feeding children a nutritionally balanced diet can be challenging. Children are born with a biological predisposition to prefer sweet and to avoid bitter foods such as green leafy vegetables. It has been hypothesized that this predisposition evolved to attract children to energy-dense foods while discouraging the consumption of toxins. Although this may have enhanced survival in environments historically characterized by food scarcity, it is clearly maladaptive in many of today's food environments where children are surrounded by an abundance of sweet-tasting, unhealthful foods and beverages that place them at risk for excessive weight …

The Relationship Between Infant Facial Expressions And Food Acceptance, Catherine A. Forestell, Julie A. Mennella

Arts & Sciences Articles

Purpose of Review

To highlight the range of methodological approaches used to objectively measure hedonic responses to taste stimuli during the first year of life and how these behavioral responses change with experience. Challenges inherent to this type of research are discussed.

Recent Findings

Although newborns display characteristic orofacial reactivity to four of the five basic tastes, the facial expressions made and the amount of food consumed can be modified by experience: children learn to like what they are fed. In some cases, changes in facial responses are concordant with infant consumption, whereas in other cases facial reactivity follows changes …

Assessing The Effect Of Food Exposure On Children's Identification And Acceptance Of Fruit And Vegetables, Jennifer Schindler, Denise Corbett, Catherine A. Forestell

Arts & Sciences Articles

Currently, fewer than 15% of children between the ages of 4–8 years consume the recommended levels of fruit and vegetables. In order to address this serious public health issue, a variety of nutrition programs have been implemented across the United States which have varied in their success. The present research analyzed the effectiveness of providing fruit and vegetable exposure as part of a school nutrition program. Kindergarten students at two schools (N = 59) were exposed to interactive activities about healthy eating and physical activity. In addition, those at one school (n = 29) were exposed to a variety …

More Than Just A Pretty Face. The Relationship Between Infant’S Temperament, Food Acceptance, And Mothers’ Perceptions Of Their Enjoyment Of Food, Catherine A. Forestell, Julie A. Mennella

Arts & Sciences Articles

The goal of the present study was to determine whether mothers’ assessment of their infants’ temperament is associated with objective measures of the infant’s acceptance patterns and their judgments of the infants’ liking of a green vegetable. To this end, infants (N = 92) were video-recorded as their mothers fed them green beans. From these videos, we determined the frequency of facial distaste expressions made during the first 2 min of the feeding. Other measures included intake, maternal ratings of infants’ enjoyment of this vegetable, and temperament. Infants who scored high on the approach dimension of the temperament questionnaire …

Increasing Children's Consumption Of Fruit And Vegetables: Does The Type Of Exposure Matter?, Chelsea Osborne, Catherine A. Forestell

Arts & Sciences Articles

This study sought to determine how eight days of home exposure to information about healthful foods and eating behaviors in the form of children's books and a variety of fruit and vegetables interacted to affect 4- to 8-year-old children's (N = 59) consumption of fruit and vegetables. Before and after the home exposure, children participated in a task in which their consumption of a variety of fruit and vegetables that ranged in familiarity was measured. Results indicated that exposure to food and books were both effective at increasing consumption of fruit, but not vegetables. Additionally, children who were exposed …

Early Milk Feeding Influences Taste Acceptance And Liking During Infancy, Julie A. Mennella, Catherine A. Forestell, Lindsay K. Morgan, Gary K. Beauchamp

Arts & Sciences Articles

Background: We identified a model system that exploits the inherent taste variation in early feedings to investigate food preference development.

Objective: The objective was to determine whether exposure to differing concentrations of taste compounds in milk and formulas modifies acceptance of exemplars of the 5 basic taste qualities in a familiar food matrix. Specifically, we examined the effects of consuming hydrolyzed casein formulas (HCFs), which have pronounced bitter, sour, and savory tastes compared with breast milk (BM) and bovine milk–based formulas (MFs), in which these taste qualities are weaker.

Design: Subgroups of BM-, MF- and HCF-fed infants, some of whom …

Children's Hedonic Responses To The Odors Of Alcoholic Beverages: A Window To Emotions, Julie A. Mennella, Catherine A. Forestell

Arts & Sciences Articles

The present study of 145 children and their mothers aimed to determine whether children's responses to the odors of alcoholic beverages were related to their mothers' reasons for drinking. Mothers completed a series of questionnaires to describe the emotional context in which they drink and whether they use alcohol to “escape” by changing their state of mind and reducing feelings of dysphoria. Children participated in two age-appropriate tasks that focused on the most salient psychological attribute of an odor, its perceived hedonic valence. To this aim, we determined children's liking, reaction times, and identification of individual odors including beer and …