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Related Experiment Videos

Infant differential behavioral responding to discrete emotions.

Eric A Walle1, Peter J Reschke1, Linda A Camras2

  • 1Psychological Sciences, University of California, Merced.

Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
|March 31, 2017
PubMed
Summary

Infants respond differently to discrete emotions like joy, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust. This study reveals goal-directed infant behaviors vary by emotion, with clearer distinctions emerging in 24-month-olds.

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Infant-centered behavioral response patterns to discrete emotions.

Developmental psychology·2025

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Emotional Communication

Background:

  • Existing research often compares responses to one negative emotion versus neutral/positive emotions.
  • Behavioral coding typically focuses on surface features (e.g., approach/avoidance) rather than the underlying function.
  • Understanding infants' functional responses to discrete emotions is crucial for social development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how infants (16, 19, and 24 months) functionally respond to five discrete emotions (joy, sadness, fear, anger, disgust).
  • To analyze goal-directed behaviors in infants' responses to different emotional displays.
  • To explore developmental differences in infants' functional emotional responding.

Main Methods:

  • Infants observed an adult displaying discrete emotions toward a stimulus in a naturalistic setting.

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  • Infants' behaviors were coded based on their function (e.g., exploration, prosocial behavior, security seeking).
  • A function-based coding scheme was employed to analyze behavioral responses.

    • Main Results:

    • Infants demonstrated distinct functional behaviors in response to discrete emotions.
    • Differences in behavioral responses across emotions were more pronounced in 24-month-old infants.
    • Younger infants (16 and 19 months) also showed some differential functional behaviors.

    Conclusions:

    • This study is the first to comprehensively identify functional behavioral differences in infant responses to discrete emotions.
    • The findings highlight the importance of considering the function over the form of social behaviors in developmental research.
    • The employed methodology may inform future research on emotion processing in children and adults.