Suchergebnisse

Different types of infant smiles in the family of positive emotions were investigated during two mother‐infant games: peekaboo and tickle. There were 27 6‐month‐old infants and 28 12‐month‐olds. Infant smiles were coded as simple (lip corner retraction only), Duchenne (simple plus cheek raising), play (simple plus jaw drop), and duplay (simple plus cheek raise and jaw drop). Results show that each type of smile has a systematic pattern of association with the game (peekaboo or tickle), component (setup or climax), trial (six trials for each game), and the direction of the infant's gaze. No significant age differences were found. We conclude that when smiling, infants may experience qualitatively different kinds of enjoyment during these two games: enjoyment of readiness to engage in play (simple smiles while gazing at mother during peekaboo), enjoyment of relief (simple smiles while gazing away from mother after being tickled), enjoyment of participation and agency (Duchenne smiles with gaze at mother during the climax of early tickle game trials), enjoyment of escape (Duchenne smiles while gazing away during tickle climax), and enjoyment of build‐up (duplay smiles during the climax of later trials). These findings show that the same facial action, smiling, can reflect different positive emotions depending upon cooccurring facial actions and the dynamics of the social process, and that the positive emotional experience of infants as young as six months is more complex than previously reported.

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Weekly laboratory observations of free play for 13 middle‐income mother–infant dyads, from 1 to 6 months of age, were used to study the synchronization of developmental trajectories between infant postural position and gaze direction. Mothers sat in a straight‐backed chair while holding infants on their laps and were free to adjust the infant's posture. Postural position was coded as upright (supported sitting or standing on the mother's lap) or other (lying, cradling, or being held close to mother). Gaze was coded as either at mother's face or away. The age of onset of visually guided reaching was also assessed. Results show that there were longer durations of gazing away when the infant was in an upright position. Over the 5 month period of observation, the dyads began with a pattern of non‐upright positions accompanied by gaze at mother. Contrary to previous predictions, the developmental shift in the first 6 months from exclusive gazing at mother's face to gazing away from mother was not synchronized with the development of reaching, but rather with changes in the infant's posture to more upright positions. The possible role of postural position in fostering positive emotional communication is discussed.