Mary Rothbart | University of Oregon (original) (raw)

Papers by Mary Rothbart

Research paper thumbnail of From The Cover: Training, maturation, and genetic influences on the development of executive attention

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Development of Short and Very Short Forms of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire

Journal of Personality Assessment, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Circuitry of self-control and its role in reducing addiction

Trends in cognitive sciences, Jan 13, 2015

We discuss the idea that addictions can be treated by changing the mechanisms involved in self-co... more We discuss the idea that addictions can be treated by changing the mechanisms involved in self-control with or without regard to intention. The core clinical symptoms of addiction include an enhanced incentive for drug taking (craving), impaired self-control (impulsivity and compulsivity), negative mood, and increased stress reactivity. Symptoms related to impaired self-control involve reduced activity in control networks including anterior cingulate (ACC), adjacent prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and striatum. Behavioral training such as mindfulness meditation can increase the function of control networks and may be a promising approach for the treatment of addiction, even among those without intention to quit.

Research paper thumbnail of Developing Attention: Behavioral and Brain Mechanisms

Advances in neuroscience (Hindawi), 2014

Brain networks underlying attention are present even during infancy and are critical for the deve... more Brain networks underlying attention are present even during infancy and are critical for the developing ability of children to control their emotions and thoughts. For adults, individual differences in the efficiency of attentional networks have been related to neuromodulators and to genetic variations. We have examined the development of attentional networks and child temperament in a longitudinal study from infancy (7 months) to middle childhood (7 years). Early temperamental differences among infants, including smiling and laughter and vocal reactivity, are related to self-regulation abilities at 7 years. However, genetic variations related to adult executive attention, while present in childhood, are poor predictors of later control, in part because individual genetic variationmay have many small effects and in part because their influence occurs in interaction with caregiver behavior and other environmental influences. While brain areas involved in attention are present during ...

Research paper thumbnail of Developing Mechanisms of Self-Regulation in Early Life

Emotion review : journal of the International Society for Research on Emotion, 2011

Children show increasing control of emotions and behavior during their early years. Our studies s... more Children show increasing control of emotions and behavior during their early years. Our studies suggest a shift in control from the brain's orienting network in infancy to the executive network by the age of 3-4 years. Our longitudinal study indicates that orienting influences both positive and negative affect, as measured by parent report in infancy. At 3-4 years of age, the dominant control of affect rests in a frontal brain network that involves the anterior cingulate gyrus. Connectivity of brain structures also changes from infancy to toddlerhood. Early connectivity of parietal and frontal areas is important in orienting; later connectivity involves midfrontal and anterior cingulate areas related to executive attention and self-regulation.

Research paper thumbnail of Development of the time course for processing conflict: an event-related potentials study with 4 year olds and adults

BMC neuroscience, Jan 22, 2004

Tasks involving conflict are widely used to study executive attention. In the flanker task, a tar... more Tasks involving conflict are widely used to study executive attention. In the flanker task, a target stimulus is surrounded by distracting information that can be congruent or incongruent with the correct response. Developmental differences in the time course of brain activations involved in conflict processing were examined for 22 four year old children and 18 adults. Subjects performed a child-friendly flanker task while their brain activity was registered using a high-density electroencephalography system. General differences were found in the amplitude and time course of event-related potentials (ERPs) between children and adults that are consistent with their differences in reaction time. In addition, the congruency of flankers affected both the amplitude and latency of some of the ERP components. These effects were delayed and sustained for longer periods of time in the children compared to the adults. These differences constitute neural correlates of children's greater di...

Research paper thumbnail of Sexual preference, feminism, and women's perceptions of their parents

Sex Roles, 1981

In an attempt to clarify the relation between parental variables, sexual preference, and sex-role... more In an attempt to clarify the relation between parental variables, sexual preference, and sex-role attitudes, three groups of women were studied: lesbian feminists, heterosexual feminists, and heterosexual traditional women. The women were asked about their perceptions of their parents when they were in high school. The groups differed more from each other with respect to their perceptions of their fathers

Research paper thumbnail of Gender differences in moral reasoning

Sex Roles, 1986

This research tests Giiligan's hypothesis that men are more likely to consider moral dilemma... more This research tests Giiligan's hypothesis that men are more likely to consider moral dilemmas chiefly in terms of justice and individual rights, whereas women are more likely to be chiefly concerned with questions of care and relationships with others. In addition, we have investigated the ...

Research paper thumbnail of You Can't Always Get What You Want: Effortful Control and Children's Responses to Undesirable Gifts

Psychological Science, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Attentional mechanisms of borderline personality disorder

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2002

Research paper thumbnail of Arousal, affect, and attention as components of temperament

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1988

Research paper thumbnail of The Development of Inhibition of Return in Early Infancy

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1991

Research paper thumbnail of Measurement of fine-grained aspects of toddler temperament: The Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire

Infant Behavior and Development, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Behavior genetics studies of infant temperament: Findings vary across parent-report instruments

Infant Behavior and Development, 2003

Research paper thumbnail of Studying infant temperament via the Revised Infant Behavior Questionnaire

Infant Behavior and Development, 2003

Research paper thumbnail of Measuring infant temperament

Infant Behavior and Development, 2002

Research paper thumbnail of Homotypic and heterotypic continuity of fine-grained temperament during infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood

Infant and Child Development, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of A latent growth examination of fear development in infancy: Contributions of maternal depression and the risk for toddler anxiety

Developmental Psychology, 2010

Growth modeling was used to examine the developmental trajectory of infant temperamental fear wit... more Growth modeling was used to examine the developmental trajectory of infant temperamental fear with maternal fear and depressive symptoms as predictors of infant fearfulness and change in infant fear predicting toddler anxiety symptoms. In Study 1, a sample of 158 mothers reported their own depressive symptoms and fear when their children were 4 months of age and infant fearfulness at 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 months. Maternal symptoms of depression predicted steeper increases in infant fearfulness over time (z = 2.06, p < .05), with high initial infant fear and steeper increases in fear (intercept, z = 2.32, p < .05, and slope, z = 1.88, p < .05) predicting more severe toddler anxiety symptoms. In Study 2, an independent sample of 134 mothers completed measures of maternal depression and fear when the infants were 4 months old, and standardized laboratory observations of infant fear were made at 8, 10, and 12 months. Consistent with Study 1, maternal depression accounted for change in fearfulness (z = 2.30, p < .05), with more frequent and more severe maternal symptoms leading to greater increases in infant fear and increases in fearfulness z = 2.08, p < .05) leading to more problematic toddler anxiety. The implications and contributions of these findings are discussed in terms of methodology, fear development, and developmental psychopathology.

Research paper thumbnail of An approach to the psychobiology of personality disorders

Development and Psychopathology, 2003

Research paper thumbnail of The anterior cingulate gyrus and the mechanism of self-regulation

Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of From The Cover: Training, maturation, and genetic influences on the development of executive attention

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Development of Short and Very Short Forms of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire

Journal of Personality Assessment, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Circuitry of self-control and its role in reducing addiction

Trends in cognitive sciences, Jan 13, 2015

We discuss the idea that addictions can be treated by changing the mechanisms involved in self-co... more We discuss the idea that addictions can be treated by changing the mechanisms involved in self-control with or without regard to intention. The core clinical symptoms of addiction include an enhanced incentive for drug taking (craving), impaired self-control (impulsivity and compulsivity), negative mood, and increased stress reactivity. Symptoms related to impaired self-control involve reduced activity in control networks including anterior cingulate (ACC), adjacent prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and striatum. Behavioral training such as mindfulness meditation can increase the function of control networks and may be a promising approach for the treatment of addiction, even among those without intention to quit.

Research paper thumbnail of Developing Attention: Behavioral and Brain Mechanisms

Advances in neuroscience (Hindawi), 2014

Brain networks underlying attention are present even during infancy and are critical for the deve... more Brain networks underlying attention are present even during infancy and are critical for the developing ability of children to control their emotions and thoughts. For adults, individual differences in the efficiency of attentional networks have been related to neuromodulators and to genetic variations. We have examined the development of attentional networks and child temperament in a longitudinal study from infancy (7 months) to middle childhood (7 years). Early temperamental differences among infants, including smiling and laughter and vocal reactivity, are related to self-regulation abilities at 7 years. However, genetic variations related to adult executive attention, while present in childhood, are poor predictors of later control, in part because individual genetic variationmay have many small effects and in part because their influence occurs in interaction with caregiver behavior and other environmental influences. While brain areas involved in attention are present during ...

Research paper thumbnail of Developing Mechanisms of Self-Regulation in Early Life

Emotion review : journal of the International Society for Research on Emotion, 2011

Children show increasing control of emotions and behavior during their early years. Our studies s... more Children show increasing control of emotions and behavior during their early years. Our studies suggest a shift in control from the brain's orienting network in infancy to the executive network by the age of 3-4 years. Our longitudinal study indicates that orienting influences both positive and negative affect, as measured by parent report in infancy. At 3-4 years of age, the dominant control of affect rests in a frontal brain network that involves the anterior cingulate gyrus. Connectivity of brain structures also changes from infancy to toddlerhood. Early connectivity of parietal and frontal areas is important in orienting; later connectivity involves midfrontal and anterior cingulate areas related to executive attention and self-regulation.

Research paper thumbnail of Development of the time course for processing conflict: an event-related potentials study with 4 year olds and adults

BMC neuroscience, Jan 22, 2004

Tasks involving conflict are widely used to study executive attention. In the flanker task, a tar... more Tasks involving conflict are widely used to study executive attention. In the flanker task, a target stimulus is surrounded by distracting information that can be congruent or incongruent with the correct response. Developmental differences in the time course of brain activations involved in conflict processing were examined for 22 four year old children and 18 adults. Subjects performed a child-friendly flanker task while their brain activity was registered using a high-density electroencephalography system. General differences were found in the amplitude and time course of event-related potentials (ERPs) between children and adults that are consistent with their differences in reaction time. In addition, the congruency of flankers affected both the amplitude and latency of some of the ERP components. These effects were delayed and sustained for longer periods of time in the children compared to the adults. These differences constitute neural correlates of children's greater di...

Research paper thumbnail of Sexual preference, feminism, and women's perceptions of their parents

Sex Roles, 1981

In an attempt to clarify the relation between parental variables, sexual preference, and sex-role... more In an attempt to clarify the relation between parental variables, sexual preference, and sex-role attitudes, three groups of women were studied: lesbian feminists, heterosexual feminists, and heterosexual traditional women. The women were asked about their perceptions of their parents when they were in high school. The groups differed more from each other with respect to their perceptions of their fathers

Research paper thumbnail of Gender differences in moral reasoning

Sex Roles, 1986

This research tests Giiligan's hypothesis that men are more likely to consider moral dilemma... more This research tests Giiligan's hypothesis that men are more likely to consider moral dilemmas chiefly in terms of justice and individual rights, whereas women are more likely to be chiefly concerned with questions of care and relationships with others. In addition, we have investigated the ...

Research paper thumbnail of You Can't Always Get What You Want: Effortful Control and Children's Responses to Undesirable Gifts

Psychological Science, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Attentional mechanisms of borderline personality disorder

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2002

Research paper thumbnail of Arousal, affect, and attention as components of temperament

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1988

Research paper thumbnail of The Development of Inhibition of Return in Early Infancy

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1991

Research paper thumbnail of Measurement of fine-grained aspects of toddler temperament: The Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire

Infant Behavior and Development, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Behavior genetics studies of infant temperament: Findings vary across parent-report instruments

Infant Behavior and Development, 2003

Research paper thumbnail of Studying infant temperament via the Revised Infant Behavior Questionnaire

Infant Behavior and Development, 2003

Research paper thumbnail of Measuring infant temperament

Infant Behavior and Development, 2002

Research paper thumbnail of Homotypic and heterotypic continuity of fine-grained temperament during infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood

Infant and Child Development, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of A latent growth examination of fear development in infancy: Contributions of maternal depression and the risk for toddler anxiety

Developmental Psychology, 2010

Growth modeling was used to examine the developmental trajectory of infant temperamental fear wit... more Growth modeling was used to examine the developmental trajectory of infant temperamental fear with maternal fear and depressive symptoms as predictors of infant fearfulness and change in infant fear predicting toddler anxiety symptoms. In Study 1, a sample of 158 mothers reported their own depressive symptoms and fear when their children were 4 months of age and infant fearfulness at 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 months. Maternal symptoms of depression predicted steeper increases in infant fearfulness over time (z = 2.06, p < .05), with high initial infant fear and steeper increases in fear (intercept, z = 2.32, p < .05, and slope, z = 1.88, p < .05) predicting more severe toddler anxiety symptoms. In Study 2, an independent sample of 134 mothers completed measures of maternal depression and fear when the infants were 4 months old, and standardized laboratory observations of infant fear were made at 8, 10, and 12 months. Consistent with Study 1, maternal depression accounted for change in fearfulness (z = 2.30, p < .05), with more frequent and more severe maternal symptoms leading to greater increases in infant fear and increases in fearfulness z = 2.08, p < .05) leading to more problematic toddler anxiety. The implications and contributions of these findings are discussed in terms of methodology, fear development, and developmental psychopathology.

Research paper thumbnail of An approach to the psychobiology of personality disorders

Development and Psychopathology, 2003

Research paper thumbnail of The anterior cingulate gyrus and the mechanism of self-regulation

Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 2007