Abstract

MENDES, Deise Maria Leal Fernandes  and  MOURA, Maria Lucia Seidl de. Babies’ facial expressions of emotion: importance and evidences. Estud. pesqui. psicol. [online]. 2009, vol.9, n.2. ISSN 1808-4281.

The emotional expressions of babies have provoked increasing interest, reflecting the importance attributed to their abilities to deal with emotions. Babies’ capacity to produce and to recognize facial expressions of emotion seems central to understand infant cognitive, affective or social development. Aiming to presenting some orientations to new studies in this area, identified gaps in the literature are discussed, and the adoption of a socio-cultural and evolutionary perspective for new investigations is proposed. From those discussions it is evident the necessity of more studies focusing the first year of life, produced in natural context at home and with longitudinal designs.

Keywords : Emotional expressions; Facial expressions; Affectivity; Smile; Mother-infant interaction.

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