Early Childhood Research Lab
Physiological Substrates of Imagination
About
Early childhood is characterized by many stressors, both positive and negative (Obradovic et al., 2010). For example, children experience stress when exposed to parental conflict or poor nutritional environments. Children may also experience stress when faced an academic challenge or the formation of new friendships. The manner in which children respond to these everyday stressors can have important implications for both immediate and long-term well-being (e.g., Blair & Raver, 2015).
Through imagination, children may encounter emotionally arousing situations (e.g., being chased by a dragon). Imagination may give children an opportunity to practice regulating through emotionally arousing situations, thus improving their emotion regulation skills over time. To support this idea, we examined children's physiological responses (i.e., skin conductance levels) during an imaginative activity.
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Information About Participating
Enrollment for this project is closed.
Funding Sources:
This research is funded by the Imagination Institute via The John Templeton Foundation (2015-2017; Grant RFP 15-08) as well as the University of Missouri Research Council.
Collaborators:
Ansley Gilpin
University of Alabama
Jason DeCaro
University of Alabama