ABSTRACT

Important advances have been made in studying emotions in infants and the nature of emotional communication between infants and adults. Infant emotions and emotional communications are far more organized than previously thought. The emotional expressions of the infant and the caretaker function to allow them to mutually regulate their interactions. The emerging answer is that the infant and adult are participants in an affective communication system. A central hypothesis is that the operation of this system has a major influence on how well the infant accomplishes his or her goals, the emotions the infant experiences, and the infant’s developmental outcome. The chapter focuses on the critical feature in each interaction: that the affective communications of each infant and mother actually change the emotional experience and behavior of the other. An evaluation by the infant that the goal is being accomplished results in a positive emotional state–joy or interest–motivating further engagement.