Beyond the Face: An Empirical Study of Infant Affective Configurations of Facial, Vocal, Gestural, and Regulatory Behaviors

Abstract

This article evaluates the extent to which infants' expressive modalities of face, gaze, voice, gesture, and posture form coherent affective configurations and whether these configurations are related to specific interactive contexts. 50 6-month-old infants and their mothers were videotaped in Tronick's Face-to-Face Still-Face Paradigm. The infants' gaze, voice, gestures, self-regulatory, and withdrawal behaviors were coded with the Infant Regulatory Scoring System (IRSS). The infants' facial expressions were coded with Izard's AFFEX system. Contingency analyses of IRSS behaviors and AFFEX expressions revealed 4 distinct affective configurations: Social Engagement, Object Engagement, Passive Withdrawal, and Active Protest. These affective configurations were differentially distributed among the different interactive contexts of the Face-to-Face Still-Face Paradigm. It is suggested that behaviors and facial expressions are fundamental expressive units flexibly organized into configurations that convey messages about the infant's internal state and intentions. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that the basic units of the infant's experience are these distinct affective configurations of emotion and behavior.