ABSTRACTS
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Messinger, D., Fogel, A., & Dickson, K. L. (2001). All smiles are positive, but some smiles are more positive than others. Developmental Psychology, 37(5), 642-653. |
| Disagreement as to whether all smiling or
specific types of smiling index positive emotion early in life was addressed
by examining when infants produced different types of smiling and other
expressions. 13 infants were observed weekly from one to six months of age.
Smiling alone – without cheek raising or mouth opening - was relatively more
likely than periods without smiling both when mothers were smiling and when
infants were gazing at their mothers’ faces. Cheek-raise (Duchenne) smiling
was relatively more likely than smiling alone only when mothers were smiling.
Open-mouth (play) smiling was relatively more likely than smiling alone only
when infants were gazing directly at mothers' faces. Smiling involving both
cheek raising and mouth opening was relatively likely both when mothers were
smiling and when infants were gazing at mothers’ faces, and became
increasingly likely with age when both conditions co-occurred. The cheek-raise
and open-mouth dimensions of smiling appear to be associated with,
respectively, the amplification of processes of sharing positive affect and of
visual engagement that are present to a lesser degree in smiling alone. |
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Messinger, D. S. (2002). Positive and negative: Infant facial expressions and emotions. Current Directions in Psychological Science 11(1). |
| One path to understanding emotional processes and their development is the investigation of early facial expressions. Converging evidence suggests that although all infant smiles index positive emotion, some smiles are more positive than others. The evidence stems both from the situations in which infants produce different facial expressions and from naïve observers’ judgments of the emotional intensity of the expressions. The observer data also suggest that similar facial actions - such as cheek raising - lead smiles to be perceived as more positive and lead negative expressions (cry-faces) to be perceived as more negative. One explanation for this parsimony is that certain facial actions are associated with the intensification of both positive and negative emotions. I conclude by describing innovative techniques that promise to illuminate longstanding issues in the communication of emotion. |
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Messinger, D. Dondi, M. G. Nelson-Goens, C., Beghi, A., Fogel, A., & Simion, F. (in press [2002]). How sleeping neonates smile. Developmental Science, 5(1), 49-55. |
| Infants over one month of age tend to produce two types of smiling during positive social interactions, Duchenne smiles involving cheek raising and open-mouth smiles. Little is known, however, about the prevalence, frequency, duration, and organization of these smiles among neonates. 25 full-term, healthy neonates (12 female) were videotaped during six minutes of sleep. Smiles were identified and analyzed using an anatomically based coding system (FACS/Baby FACS). One half of the neonates showed bilateral Duchenne smiles. One quarter of the neonates showed bilateral Duchenne smiles at a mature level of intensity whose median duration was 1 1/3 s. By contrast, open-mouth bilateral smiles occurred in less than one tenth of the sample. The contrast between the more frequent bilateral Duchenne smiles and the less frequent open-mouth smile is discussed in terms of the early synergistic functioning of facial muscles and contrasted with the smiling patterns of older infants. |
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Messinger, D., Fogel, A., & Dickson, K. L. (1999). What's in a smile? Developmental Psychology, 35(3), 701-708. |
| In positive social contexts, both adults and older infants show more Duchenne smiling (which involves high cheek raising) than non-Duchenne smiling (which does not). This study compared Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles in early infancy for clues to their emotional significance. 13 infants from one to six months of age were videotaped weekly for 5 minutes in 208 face-to-face interactions with their mothers. Levels of Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiling were correlated within interactive sessions and the smiles had similar developmental trajectories (JPEG, 343KB). Duchenne smiles were typically preceded by non-Duchenne smiles. The results suggest these frequently contrasted types of smiles occur in similar situations and are often different temporal phases of a continuous emotional process. In contrast to adults, infant Duchenne smiles had longer durations than non-Duchenne smiles, suggesting infant smiling does not fit adult models of emotional functioning. |
