Do Preverbal Infants Understand Discrete Facial Expressions of Emotion?. (October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ruba, Ashley L.; Repacholi, Betty M.
• Is Part Of: Emotion review. Volume 12:Number 4(2020:Oct.)
• Page Start: 235
• Page End: 250
• Publication Date: 2020-10
• Subjects: discrete emotions -- emotion understanding -- facial expressions -- infancy -- language; Emotions -- Periodicals; Emotions -- Research -- Periodicals; 152.4
• DOI: 10.1177/1754073919871098
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1754-0739

Abstract

An ongoing debate in affective science concerns whether certain discrete, "basic" emotions have evolutionarily based signals (facial expressions) that are easily, universally, and (perhaps) innately identified. Studies with preverbal infants (younger than 24 months) have the potential to shed light on this debate. This review summarizes what is known about preverbal infants' understanding of discrete emotional facial expressions. Overall, while many studies suggest that preverbal infants differentiate positive and negative facial expressions, few studies have tested whether infants understand discrete emotions (e.g., anger vs. disgust). Moreover, results vary greatly based on methodological factors. This review also (a) discusses how language may influence the development of emotion understanding, and (b) proposes a new developmental hypothesis for infants' discrete emotion understanding.