Ellen Roche

Thanks!

I'm excited about this finding because babies grow up in complex relational ecosystems of multiple familial and non-familial caregivers. Real-time consistency *between* those caregivers is probably playing an important role in development, which we completely miss when we narrowly focus on dyads.

Hypothesis 2: mutual sensitivity predicts infant across-screen JVA In our JVA model we tested the relationship between mutual sensitivity and infant joint attention with their across-screen conversational partner, controlling for infant age. Here, we hypothesize that greater mutual sensitivity will be associated with a greater likelihood of successful infant engagement in across-screen joint visual attention. The image below depicts an infant’s bid for attention to the dog on the grandparent’s side of the screen, an example of across-screen JVA>

Results H1: Mutual sensitivity predicts affective state Even after controlling for the individual sensitivity of each caregiver and child age, and after resolving issues of collinearity, mutual sensitivity significantly predicted infant affective state. (b = 0.78, p < .001). A 1-point increase in the distance between caregiver sensitivity was associated with a 22-percent decreased likelihood that the infant would be in the positive, alert affective state. Block order and the infant’s affective state in the preceding block were associated with infant affective state in the current block. H2: Mutual sensitivity predicts successful across-screen JVA When controlling for infant age, parent sensitivity, and grandparent sensitivity, mutual sensitivity was not significantly associated with successful across-screen JVA.

link to the full paper in infancy: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/infa.70068

Ultimately even with a logistic model controlling for the individual sensitivity of both parent & grandparent, child age, & affective state in the prior block, we found that mutual sensitivity predicted infant affective state at the 30s level (p < .001). No significant findings in JVA model.

What is mutual sensitivity between two caregivers? A growing body of research suggests that consistency in the caregiving environment predicts adaptive child development (see Ugarte & Hastings, 2023). Most studies have focused on consistency within a single caregiver over time. However, children do not grow up in isolated parent-child dyads. Is real-time consistency across two caregivers uniquely predictive of infant affective state (H1) and joint visual attention (H2)? This figure depicts real-time state spaces combining parent and grandparent sensitivity over three sessions within one family. Our mutual sensitivity variable was calculated by taking the square root of the distance between parent and grandparent. Eg., a distance of 0 meant the two caregivers shared a sensitivity score within a thirty second block. Importantly, our mutual sensitivity measure was agnostic to the degree of sensitivity of either caregiver.

We collected data during the COVID-19 pandemic, inviting families with infants who had grandparents at a distance to record three Zoom conversations between the infant (see ages below) and the grandparent. 43 families submitted 3 video chats; 4 submitted only 2. Our final models included 2741 30s affect blocks and 660 JVA observations in multilevel logistic regressions.

Hypothesis 1: Mutual sensitivity predicts infant affective state Prior theories and studies have linked young children’s affective states with language development, attentional control, and joint attention, but findings diverge on the role of affective valence, and rarely combine both affective valence and behavioral arousal. We chose a theoretically and empirically driven multidimensional affective state characterized by neutral-to-positive valence (see Bloom, 1993; Kubicek & Emde, 2012; Laake and Bridgett, 2014) and low-medium arousal, hypothesizing that mutual sensitivity would predict whether or not infants occupied this state space, even after controlling for the individual sensitivity of each caregiver and child age.

Each infant occupies a distinct landscape of states.

I've wanted to look at mutual sensitivity (consistency between caregivers in their sensitivity) for years, and this analysis was buoyed by encouragement at @affectscience.bsky.social 2023 after a flash talk exploring the method. Thanks to @tomhollenstein.bsky.social for state space inspiration!

Ultimately even with a logistic model controlling for the individual sensitivity of both parent & grandparent, child age, & affective state in the prior block, we found that mutual sensitivity predicted infant affective state at the 30s level (p < .0001). No significant findings in JVA model.

Mutual Sensitivity Between Caregivers Predicts Infant Affective State During Video Chat published in Infancy

Abstract Infancy is an extraordinary period of human development, in which babies turn sensory and environmental information into meaning in the cradle of their caregivers’ affective and attentional cues. Babies express what they are thinking and feeling through smiles and gazes long before they develop expressive language. Most developmental research focuses on mother-infant dyads within a controlled lab environment, despite the complexity of young children’s caregiving ecosystems, which range far beyond the mother-child dyad and include caregivers at a distance via technology like video chat. This study uses a novel state space approach to examine relations between the sensitivity of two caregivers — what we call “mutual sensitivity” — and infants’ real-time affective and attentional states during video chat sessions.

How to read a state space (Hollenstein, 2013): This figure depicts a single infant’s affective states over three video chat sessions. Each grid square represents a unique affective state characterized by both valence (1-7, negative to positive) and arousal (1-7), high to low. For example, we can see that during the first video chat session, this infant briefly spent time in a high arousal, low valence state (distress).

Background Caregiver sensitivity - a caregiver’s responsive, warm, temporally contingent engagement with an infant - has been robustly linked to children’s development across cognitive and affective domains. Prior studies have shown that global caregiver sensitivity predicts both infant affective valence and infant engagement in JVA during in-person interactions (Braungart-Rieker et al., 2001; Mason et al., 2019) and during video chat (Roche et al., 2022; Myers et al., 2024). In this study we used the Biringen et al., 2000 scale (1-9) and coded all behavioral variables every 30 seconds.

👀 New paper out in Infancy! Mutual Sensitivity Between Caregivers Predicts Infant Affective State... @dougpiper.bsky.social & I co-led this analysis with Gabrielle Strouse, @proflaurenmyers.bsky.social @drzosh.bsky.social @geotro.bsky.social and Rachel Barr onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Five Things You Should Know About the Insurrection Act Here’s what to know about President Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to protests over the murder of Renee Good by an ICE agent.

Trump is threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to lawful protests against ICE in Minneapolis. He's made this threat before, but seems more focused on it than ever.

Here's what you need to know⤵️

https://bit.ly/4qxW3Tf

This is fantastic, congrats!

👀 Fantastic new review of disparate literature on stress & development across cog, emo and phys domains. "Early Life Stress Effects on Children's Biology, Behavior, & Health: Evidence, Mediators, Moderators, & Solutions"

@nicolebushphd.bsky.social @alliesullivan.bsky.social & Amanda Noroña-Zhou

gutterballing

super surveillance

hedgehogging

obsessing over tiny predictors

I've been on the internet since the 90s and this remains one of the very best things I've encountered here. Thanks @mastroianni.bsky.social for all your writing but especially this, you beautiful bouncing baby bog boy. "So you wanna de-bog yourself" www.experimental-history.com/p/so-you-wan...

Scared together: heart rate synchrony and social closeness in a high-intensity horror setting.

New study from @ndersen.bsky.social and colleagues combines two of my favorite things - haunted houses and physiological synchrony research. "Scared together: heart rate synchrony and social closeness in a high-intensity horror setting." 👻❤️⚡❤️🧟

“Even God Cannot Hear Us Here”: What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women’s Prison Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up about her 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility—and the generous and compassionate women she met.

"Writing is one of the most peaceful ways of communication...Writing is a form of listening, a process of thinking...the foundation upon which academic work is built. Writing is the heart of freedom of expression. Unbelievably, this opinion piece in our student paper, would lead to my detention."

Rümeysa Öztürk. Text on the card reads: “‘I sometimes wake up in tears for friends still there.’ Rümeysa Öztürk’s six weeks in ICE detention.”

Weeks before agents arrived in Somerville in search of Rümeysa Öztürk, the White House developed their strategy to crack down on student protesters in a private meeting.

Quietly, Öztürk's visa was canceled. Then came the warrant for her arrest. trib.al/KGutFoj

Title: "The Goalposts keep moving: who gets to 'futureproof' their children?"

"If you haven't been living under a rock, you've probably seen the flood of headlines and hot takes about raising kids in the age of AI..."

"For years, those of us in early childhood have been shouting into the voice that play is not optional enrichment..."

Powerful new commentary from thorbiie.bsky.social & @iheomairuka.bsky.social in @the74.bsky.social "Let us be clear: Agency in child-rearing is not a Silicon Valley innovation It is ancient wisdom..." www.the74million.org/article/the-...

Screenshot of journal article “Adenosine signaling drives antidepressant actions of ketamine & ECT”

Abstract text

Screenshot from section of paper describing tests to confirm mPFC as essential for effects

👀 New @nature.com paper from Chenyu Yue, Na Wang & co identifies adenosine signaling in mPFC as a shared underlying mechanism of action in both ketamine and ECT, and thus a potential therapeutic target for depression. Super interesting read! 🐁 ⚡️

Accepting Clinical or Counselling Psychology Grad Student?

Are you applying to a PhD in Clinical or Counseling Psychology? Here is a list of mentors who are taking students. Please circulate widely (and on X) so all applicants can benefit 😀. If you are mentoring please do add your name!
#clinicalpsychology @abctnow.bsky.social

Position statement 1

Position statement 2

Position statement 3

Position statement 4

So many things to be concerned about. Here’s one more!

Based on everything we know about infant development, we should be exceedingly cautious about letting our littlest play with generative AI toys & bots. If you agree please sign & share our scientific statement: gsolen.ucsd.edu/position-sta...

Interpersonal Synchrony in Autism - PubMed Across domains, synchrony is present but reduced or atypical in individuals with ASD during interactions with individuals with typical development (TD). Atypical synchrony may reflect the contribution...

Rounding out our #flux2025 neural synchrony symposium - Kathryn McNaughton will share findings (with chair Elizabeth Redcay) across behavioral synchrony & neural similarity using fMRI in both typically developing and ASD adolescents. Join us at 3 in Hyde 1!

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32025922/

I’m excited to meet you in person please say hello!

De Felice et al 2025: relational neuroscience, insights from hyperscanning

Flux 2025 symposium - is neural synchrony a developmental mechanism?

Looking fwd to our neural synchrony symposium today - & especially learning more from @pvrticka.bsky.social on synchrony in #fNIRS. For a preview check out an excellent 2025 review led by @saradefelice.bsky.social - join us 3pm in Hyde 1. 🧠 ⚡️ 🧠 #flux2025

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Distinct depreciation and threat trajectories for learning and emotional development

Emotion regulation findings after threat paradigm

Middle insula findings after threat x caregiver fMRI task

Fantastic talk on differential pathways of threat and deprivation across brain and behavioral outcomes from childhood > adolescence from Margaret Sheridan. Many open questions on how plasticity actually works. #flux2025

Sensitive periods for microbiota development

Studies of germ-free mice

Cross-species studies of associations between microbiome and social behavior

John Cryan’s microbiota-social cognition talk was a revelation and made me want to eat some sauerkraut and give some to all my neighbors. 🥦 🫐 🧠 🍏 🥬 @jfcryan.bsky.social #flux2025

🎓 FLUX is proud to spotlight Gavkhar Abdurokhmonova.

Her research focuses on understanding how children's early language experiences shape their brain, cognitive, and socio-emotional development.

Read about her journey, motivations, and advice for other young scientists:
👉 buff.ly/19APuWX

Is neural synchrony a dev. mechanism? How do we know? One methods insight - we should be cautious about interpreting brain synchrony w/o behavioral context. Our 2nd speaker, IM Haresign, wrote a great paper on this w/ E. Phillips & @profsamwass.bsky.social - learn more Sat @ 3! #flux2025 🧠⚡️🧠

I’ve wondered how we meaningfully interpret brain synchrony findings across regions in humans (eg motor v PFC).

Going much deeper - @honglab.bsky.social will share how GABA- v glutamatergic neurons sync up - distinctly! - across two interacting mice - learn more 3pm Sat at #flux2025

🐁 🧠 ⚡️ 🧠 🐁

Using multimodal diffusion maps to group different interaction sources

Only a multimodal analysis was related to parenting style and the child’s long-term outcomes

Lowe brain-to-brain synchronization during tablet-based reading

Literary Arabic v spoken Arabic and parent-child brain synchrony

Great talk on combining behavioral and EEG data during parent-child dialogic reading to predict language outcomes from Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus at #flux2025 @jacobsfoundation.bsky.social symposium

Postdoctoral Research Scholar, The Cognition, Affect, and Temperament Lab, College of the Liberal Arts, Department of Psychology-2 APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, a...

My lab has an open post-doc position!

We will begin reviewing applications as they come in.

The post-doc will work with a vibrant research team at Penn State in the Department of Psychology and the Child Study Center.

psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic...

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I am so excited to moderate this symposium at #flux2025. Please join us Saturday, 3pm in Hyde 1.

Across 4 methods & stages (direct neural recording, EEG, fNIRS, fMRI | mice, babies, toddlers & adolescents) we'll explore whether neural synchrony represents a developmental mechanism. Please join us!

"Even when you negate a frame, you activate the frame. When I say 'don't think of an elephant!', you'll think of an elephant." - Lakoff

"Even when you negate a frame, you activate the frame. When I say 'don't think of an elephant!', you'll think of an elephant."

🐘🇺🇸

This times infinity.

If you don't have time to read "Don't think of an Elephant" just watch Josh Lyman's perfect 30-second explanation:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIYg...

Every time we get hooked on refuting Trump's irrational claims, we lose the frame and support his.