Research Spotlight Birth to 6 months Born to Feel Before they can even speak, babies have lots of emotions Learn what a sad face means Emotions start early Infants are emotional beings right from birth. In fact, emotions are biologically based, and are built into children’s brains, and help them connect to caregivers (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2004). Human beings are truly born to feel! But when do children begin to feel emotions and what do they feel? Right from birth infants experience several basic or primary emotions. During the first six months of life, as the infant makes cognitive gains, these basic emotions develop into more sophisticated emotions. Thus, over time, a young child’s repertoire of emotions continues to grow (Lewis, 2000). The primary emotions and their development during the first six months of life are mapped in the chart below. At birth there are several basic emotions that infants experience. But over the course of the first six months of life, infants begin to experience more complex emotions. And with each passing year their emotional repertoire grows. For instance, two to three year old children begin to experience embarrassment, pride, shame and guilt (Lewis, 2000). It’s a beautiful summer day. Dad and his 10-week-old son Ryan are relaxing on a blanket outside. Dad leans over Ryan and smiles and coos happily as his baby looks up at him. Baby smiles and dad is thrilled. Suddenly, the family dog bounds into this perfect world, disturbing the moment and knocking over a glass of lemonade. Not pleased, dad immediately turns to the dog, shouts at him, and shoos him away. As he turns back to his baby, an expression of anger is still on his face. Ryan looks at his dad’s face and begins to cry. Dad immediately senses his baby’s reaction. He scoops him up, cuddles him and soothes away his tears. What happened there? Was Ryan’s smile a real expression of contentment or was he simply mirroring his dad’s facial expression? Was Ryan’s response to his dad’s anger a real emotional reaction? What do babies feel and when do they start to feel it?
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References:Haviland, J. M., & Lelwica, M. (1987). The induced aff ect response: 10-week-old infants’ responses to three emotion expressions. Developmental Psychology, 23(1), 97-104.Lewis, M. (2000). The emergence of human emotions. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed., pp. 265-280). New York: Guilford Press.National Scienti� c Council on the Developing Child. (2004). Children’s emotional development is built into the architecture of their brain (working paper no. 2): Retrieved October 4, 2005 from http://www.developingchild.net/pubs/wp/Childrens Emotional Development Architecture Brains.pdfTips
For more information on parenting and early learning, or to order copies of this Spotlight, visit www.ParentingCounts.org.
Helpful parenting tips
Little expressions can show big feelingsResearch Spotlight
Birth to 6 months
Smile, laugh, talk, sing and read together every day.
Play face-to-face games, like peek-a-boo, with your infant. Keep your face about 8 to 18 inches from your baby’s face.
Your baby is reading your face. Be aware that your angry or sad face will aff ect how your baby reacts.
Pay attention to your baby’s emotional expressions and respond to them.
When you respond to your baby’s emotional needs,he learns that he can count on you and he learns to connect with you.
Watch and learn how your baby’s emotions develop over time.
Humans are born to feel and infant expressions refl ect inner emotions or feelings. Infants also watch and respond to our emotions. Spend lots of time interacting with your baby, learning what she is trying to tell you about how she feels.
You and your baby are discovering more about each other every day and it’s an exciting adventure. Have fun… it will show on your face!
Born to FeelBefore they can even speak, babies have lots of emotions
Infants are emotional beings right from birth. In fact, emotions are biologically based, and are built into children’s brains, and help them connect to caregivers (National Scientifi c Council on the Developing Child, 2004). Human beings are truly born to feel!
But when do children begin to feel emotions and what do they feel? Right from birth infants experience several basic or primary emotions. During the fi rst six months of life, as the infant makes cognitive gains, these basic emotions develop into more sophisticated emotions. Thus, over time, a young child’s repertoire of emotions continues to grow (Lewis, 2000).
The primary emotions and their development during the fi rst six months of life are mapped in the chart below. At birth there are several basic emotions that infants experience. But over the course of the fi rst six months of life, infants begin to experience more complex emotions. And with each passing year their emotional repertoire grows. For instance, two to three year old children begin to experience embarrassment, pride, shame and guilt (Lewis, 2000).
It’s a beautiful summer day. Dad and his 10-week-old son Ryan are relaxing on a blanket outside. Dad leans over Ryan and smiles and coos happily as his baby looks up at him. Baby smiles and dad is thrilled. Suddenly, the family dog bounds into this perfect world, disturbing the moment and knocking over a glass of lemonade. Not pleased, dad immediately turns to the dog, shouts at him, and shoos him away. As he turns back to his baby, an expression of anger is still on his face. Ryan looks at his dad’s face and begins to cry. Dad immediately senses his baby’s reaction. He scoops him up, cuddles him and soothes away his tears.
What happened there? Was Ryan’s smile a real expression of contentment or was he simply mirroring his dad’s facial expression? Was Ryan’s response to his dad’s anger a real emotional reaction? What do babies feel and when do they start to feel it?
How do scientists study infant emotions?
Infants can’t talk about their emotions—at least not yet! So, to fi nd out about young children’s emotions, researchers created experiments that examined how babies respond to the emotional expressions they see and hear in other people. Would the babies react to another person’s emotions? Would they copythe emotions they saw?
Contentment (able to experience pleasure, e.g., baby is comfortable-”aaah, daddy gave me a clean and dry diaper, feel good”)
Joy (shows excitement and happiness, e.g., baby smiles when she sees mom)
Interest (shows interest in people and environment, e.g., baby looks intently at mom’s face, eyes, lips) Surprise-by six months (understands an “aha!” experience, e.g., infant responds to playing peek-a-boo)
Distress (shows irritablity when needs aren’t met, e.g., baby expresses discontent through facial expressions and crying)
Sadness (understands the withdrawl of a positive event, e.g. baby feels sad when dad stops playing with her)
Disgust (recognizes dislikes, e.g., baby spits out food)
Fear-six to eight months (recognizes familiar faces and unfamiliar faces, e.g., infant clings to mom when strangers are around)
Frustration (some early forms of anger are experienced, e.g., when feeding is interrupted, the infant may cry or increase the movement of his arms and legs)
Anger (shows irritation e.g., cries because she cannot move when buckled into car seat)
References:Haviland, J. M., & Lelwica, M. (1987). The induced aff ect response: 10-week-old infants’ responses to three emotion expressions. Developmental Psychology, 23(1), 97-104.Lewis, M. (2000). The emergence of human emotions. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed., pp. 265-280). New York: Guilford Press.National Scienti� c Council on the Developing Child. (2004). Children’s emotional development is built into the architecture of their brain (working paper no. 2): Retrieved October 4, 2005 from http://www.developingchild.net/pubs/wp/Childrens Emotional Development Architecture Brains.pdfTips
For more information on parenting and early learning, or to order copies of this Spotlight, visit www.ParentingCounts.org.
Helpful parenting tips
Little expressions can show big feelingsResearch Spotlight
Birth to 6 months
Smile, laugh, talk, sing and read together every day.
Play face-to-face games, like peek-a-boo, with your infant. Keep your face about 8 to 18 inches from your baby’s face.
Your baby is reading your face. Be aware that your angry or sad face will aff ect how your baby reacts.
Pay attention to your baby’s emotional expressions and respond to them.
When you respond to your baby’s emotional needs,he learns that he can count on you and he learns to connect with you.
Watch and learn how your baby’s emotions develop over time.
Humans are born to feel and infant expressions refl ect inner emotions or feelings. Infants also watch and respond to our emotions. Spend lots of time interacting with your baby, learning what she is trying to tell you about how she feels.
You and your baby are discovering more about each other every day and it’s an exciting adventure. Have fun… it will show on your face!
Born to FeelBefore they can even speak, babies have lots of emotions
Infants are emotional beings right from birth. In fact, emotions are biologically based, and are built into children’s brains, and help them connect to caregivers (National Scientifi c Council on the Developing Child, 2004). Human beings are truly born to feel!
But when do children begin to feel emotions and what do they feel? Right from birth infants experience several basic or primary emotions. During the fi rst six months of life, as the infant makes cognitive gains, these basic emotions develop into more sophisticated emotions. Thus, over time, a young child’s repertoire of emotions continues to grow (Lewis, 2000).
The primary emotions and their development during the fi rst six months of life are mapped in the chart below. At birth there are several basic emotions that infants experience. But over the course of the fi rst six months of life, infants begin to experience more complex emotions. And with each passing year their emotional repertoire grows. For instance, two to three year old children begin to experience embarrassment, pride, shame and guilt (Lewis, 2000).
It’s a beautiful summer day. Dad and his 10-week-old son Ryan are relaxing on a blanket outside. Dad leans over Ryan and smiles and coos happily as his baby looks up at him. Baby smiles and dad is thrilled. Suddenly, the family dog bounds into this perfect world, disturbing the moment and knocking over a glass of lemonade. Not pleased, dad immediately turns to the dog, shouts at him, and shoos him away. As he turns back to his baby, an expression of anger is still on his face. Ryan looks at his dad’s face and begins to cry. Dad immediately senses his baby’s reaction. He scoops him up, cuddles him and soothes away his tears.
What happened there? Was Ryan’s smile a real expression of contentment or was he simply mirroring his dad’s facial expression? Was Ryan’s response to his dad’s anger a real emotional reaction? What do babies feel and when do they start to feel it?
How do scientists study infant emotions?
Infants can’t talk about their emotions—at least not yet! So, to fi nd out about young children’s emotions, researchers created experiments that examined how babies respond to the emotional expressions they see and hear in other people. Would the babies react to another person’s emotions? Would they copythe emotions they saw?
Contentment (able to experience pleasure, e.g., baby is comfortable-”aaah, daddy gave me a clean and dry diaper, feel good”)
Joy (shows excitement and happiness, e.g., baby smiles when she sees mom)
Interest (shows interest in people and environment, e.g., baby looks intently at mom’s face, eyes, lips) Surprise-by six months (understands an “aha!” experience, e.g., infant responds to playing peek-a-boo)
Distress (shows irritablity when needs aren’t met, e.g., baby expresses discontent through facial expressions and crying)
Sadness (understands the withdrawl of a positive event, e.g. baby feels sad when dad stops playing with her)
Disgust (recognizes dislikes, e.g., baby spits out food)
Fear-six to eight months (recognizes familiar faces and unfamiliar faces, e.g., infant clings to mom when strangers are around)
Frustration (some early forms of anger are experienced, e.g., when feeding is interrupted, the infant may cry or increase the movement of his arms and legs)
Anger (shows irritation e.g., cries because she cannot move when buckled into car seat)
