Aspen Pub./IYC AS160-03 March 5, 2003 18:35 Char Count= 0 Infants and Young Children Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 120–142 c 2003 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc. Emotional Expressions of Young Infants and Children A Practitioner’s Primer Margaret Wolan Sullivan, PhD; Michael Lewis, PhD Research on emotional development in infancy has benefited greatly from the use of video- tape technology and coding systems that allow detailed coding of facial movements. Today we know that a core set of human facial expressions, composed of specific movements in the brow, eye/cheek, and mouth regions of the face, are probably innate. Theorists continue to debate the meaning of these expressions as well as how they are organized and become regulated over the first several years of life. Despite continuing debate and research on these issues, early facial ex- pressions have practical, signal value for caregivers and practitioners alike. This article surveys what is known about the appearance and early normative, developmental course of emotional expressions, noting similarities and differences in special populations when available. Its goal is to provide practitioners with basic information to help them and the parents they serve become better able to recognize the expressive signals of the infants and young children in their care. Key words: emotion, emotional development, facial expressions, infants, nonverbal commu- nication YSTEMS for deciphering the facial expres- Lewis & Michalson, 1983). Despite this find- Ssions of infants and young children were ing, facial coding systems have only just be- developed in the 1980s. These systems rep- gun to move out of the laboratory into clinical resent important and needed tools for pro- settings (Gilbert et al., 1999). This is unfor- moting more accurate, empirical study of tunate, because information about facial ex- early emotional development. With them, re- pressions potentially has practical import for searchers are beginning to understand when those working with infants, older, nonverbal infants first express particular emotion sig- children, and their caregivers. nals facially, the organization of these signals, For practitioners, facial expressions are in- and their relation to other aspects of moti- formative in 2 ways. First and foremost, they vated behavior. While many important ques- are social signals to others. Crying, vocaliz- tions about the meaning and developmental ing, and bodily movements combine with fa- course of early expressions continue to be re- cial expression to provide cues to an infant’s searched and debated, it is now recognized status. Savvy caregivers no doubt make use that most, if not all, of the facial components of all of these cues in interpreting infant be- of the human expression repertoire can be ob- havior. Although psychologists may be reluc- served shortly after birth (Camras, Holland, tant to assign a specific emotion value to & Patterson, 1993; Izard & Malatesta, 1987; infant facial expressions, parents have no problem doing so. In fact, they routinely use facial expressions to attribute personality and From the Institute for the Study of Child intellectual characteristics to a young baby Development, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical (Haviland, 1983). They also use facial expres- School, New Brunswick, NJ. sions to gauge their own responses, thus help- Corresponding author: Margaret Wolan Sullivan, In- ing to regulate their infants’ arousal and teach- stitute for the Study of Child Development, UMDNJ- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (e-mail: sullivan@ ing them display rules (Malatesta & Haviland, umdnj.edu). 1982). Parents’ reading and interpretation of 120 Aspen Pub./IYC AS160-03 March 5, 2003 18:35 Char Count= 0 Emotional Expressions 121 the infant’s expressive cues in daily interac- neurological and cognitive status of the child. tion are key to the child’s social development, Facial expressions are controlled through the emotion regulation, and early language learn- facial cranial nerves but are also intimately ing (Mundy & Willoughby, 1996; Walden & linked to cognitive development (Lewis & Knieps, 1996). Consequently, whether par- Michalson, 1983). Consequently, young chil- ents observe and are having difficulty inter- dren’s facial expressions have some clinical preting the expressive signals of their infant significance. Although their initial appearance should be an important screening question for is organized at the brain’s subcortical level, the practitioner. changes in their form or developmental pat- Although some adults seem to have “nat- tern over time reveals that the child’s higher ural” skills at reading emotional expressions, cognitive and motivational systems are be- others will need some training to recognize coming integrated as brain maturation pro- the facial signals of young infants whose ex- ceeds. Appropriate developmental changes in pressions are often fleeting, subtle, and per- facial signals imply that certain cognitive func- haps less well organized than those of older tions are preserved in neurologically dam- children. This problem can be compounded aged children, for example. This fact has when there is neurological impairment or long been recognized for smiling (McCall, developmental delay. Expressive behaviors 1972), but is likely to be true for other of infants and children with various forms expressions as well. of disability have been described as muted, Data on individual differences in facial ex- hard-to-read, or excessively labile and incon- pressions, their developmental trajectory in gruous, depending on the population un- normally developing populations, and spe- der study (Mundy, Yirmiya, & Sigman, 1990; cific information about facial expressions in Kasari & Sigman, 1996; Sigman, Kasari, Kwon, atypical populations is growing. This article & Yirmiya, 1992). When parents are un- surveys the expressions of which infants and able to recognize and interpret emotional sig- young children are capable as revealed by fa- nals from their infants, they will be uncer- cial coding systems such as MAX (Maximally tain about their child’s needs and less able Discriminative Facial Coding System), its com- to share positive affect. Consequently, par- panion, whole-face scoring system, AFFEX ents may become less expressive themselves (Affective Expressions Scoring System; Izard, (Dawson, Hill, Spencer, Galpert, & Waton, 1982), and Baby FACS (Facial Action Coding 1990), further degrading the quality of interac- System; Oster, 1978) and will cover typical ex- tion. Learning to recognize facial expressions pressions. The article will not treat related and and how they evolve is a worthwhile effort important topics such as arousal, physiologi- because these and other nonverbal cues of cal reactivity, or emotion regulation. Rather, emotion offer another channel of communi- the focus is a pragmatic one of how to rec- cation when children’s behavior or vocal ut- ognize expressions—whether they are muted terances are absent, or unclear. This channel or intense, prototypic or idiosyncratic. Like- signals the infant’s arousal level, something wise, we set aside the thorny theoretical ques- about the quality of the infant’s positive or tion of whether the emotional experiences of negative response to concurrent stimulation, very young children are similar to or different and may help explain other aspects of motor, from those of older children and adults. Since postural, and behavioral responses. In short, the discussion of expressions will make use the ability to interpret infants’ expressive sig- of the movements described in MAX, AFFEX, nals is extremely important to parents person- and FACS, we briefly consider the nature of ally and to promoting mutually satisfying inter- these tools. actions. Although some of the assumptions underly- Another way expressions can be helpful to ing MAX and AFFEX, as opposed to the Baby practitioners is that they offer clues to the FACS coding systems, remain controversial, Aspen Pub./IYC AS160-03 March 5, 2003 18:35 Char Count= 0 122 INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN/APRIL–JUNE 2003 research using these systems shows that most that infants’ expressions to any given context of the facial movements comprising adult vary across individuals. Even within individ- emotion expressions are present and map uals, multiple expressions seen in rapid suc- onto positive and negative reactions to stim- cession are common. Expressions are also sel- ulation during the first months of life. MAX, dom pure and may blend 2 emotion signals. AFFEX, and Baby FACS also share many fea- Since blended expression may persist in some tures. For example, all observe movements children (Yirmiya, Kasari, Sigman & Mundy, of the facial musculature in the forehead, 1989), the developmental course of and eye/cheek, and mouth regions of the face. individual differences in blends are of some They also agree, for the most part, on those interest. facial movements that constitute emotion signals. The major differences between the THE INTEREST FAMILY systems are their theoretical orientation and comprehensiveness in scoring facial move- Some do not consider interest is an emo- ments. tional expression, but since it is a sign of pos- MAX and AFFEX focus on a theoret- itive approach and receptivity to people and ically limited set of “prototypic” expres- objects, it is coded in MAX/AFFEX as a family sions of adults. In contrast, Baby FACS of expressions distinct from a neutral, awake, does not, and is comprehensive in scor- but nonexpressive face.