Premium
Hand, Arm, and Facial Actions of Young Infants to a Social and Nonsocial Stimulus
Author(s) -
Legerstee Maria,
Corter Carl,
Kienapple Kim
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1990.tb02820.x
Subject(s) - gaze , psychology , nonverbal communication , stimulus (psychology) , facial expression , developmental psychology , social relation , cognitive psychology , audiology , communication , social psychology , psychoanalysis , medicine
Do 9–15‐week‐old infants produce differentially organized hand and arm actions in relation to affective states when presented with social and nonsocial stimuli? This question was examined by observing 8 infants longitudinally. They were observed when facing their active and passive mother and an active and passive doll during 4 visits at biweekly intervals. Videotapes were coded in real time using the following measures: Vocalization, Gaze, and Gaze Avert; for face, Smiling, Distressed, and Neutral; for hands, Pointing, Open, Curled, and Closed; and for arms, Extended and At Side. Cooccurrence and lag sequential analyses showed that hand actions were organized with other infant actions to form unique behavioral linkages in each of the 4 conditions. The implications of these findings for the development of nonverbal communication are discussed.