Marianne Jover
Aix-Marseille Université
Adults’ understanding of the emotional states of newborns or infants is crucial, as it enables parents to provide contingent, sensitive, and regular responses which are essential for infant development (Trevarthen, 1979). In the first hours after birth, and before producing any vocalization, infants begin to produce many movements (Prechtl, 1974). Surprisingly, little scientific research has examined the meaning given by adults to these movements (Irwin, 2003; Papousek et al., 2000; Thelen, 1981). I will present two experiments conducted among mothers and students. We used a set of videos of 4-month-old infants that had either been left unedited or else edited to provide only facial, vocal, or body movement cues and examined whether adults could infer the emotional state of infants based on their body movements alone.
DFG SPP "The Active Self" 