The temporal relationship between infant heart rate acceleration and crying in an aversive situation.

The temporal relationship between heart rate (HR) acceleration and crying was examined in 16 8-16-month-old infants. Consistently, the HR acceleration began well before the onset of crying, suggesting that such acceleration is not merely a by-product of crying. The accelerations observed were above and beyond a return to baseline following orienting. The crying itself validates the association between these instances of HR acceleration and negative effect.