Between three and six months of age, the period of peak face-to-face play, an infant is exposed to tens of thousands of examples of facial emotions. In interactions with mother, a child mirrors mother's expression, and she, in turn, imitates the infant. The table below lists the infant's repertoire of facial emotions.
| Emotion | Description | Emergence |
| Interest | Brows knit or raised, mouth rounded, lips pursed | Present at Birth |
| Distress | Eyes closed tightly, mouth square and angular (as in anger) | Present at Birth |
| Disgust | Nose wrinkled, upper lip elevated, tongue protruded | Present at Birth |
| Social smile | Corners of mouth raised, cheeks lifted, eyes twinkle; neonatal "half smile" and early startle may be precursors | 4 to 6 weeks |
| Anger | Brows together and drawn downward, eyes set, mouth square | 3 to 4 months |
| Sadness | Inner corners of brows raised, mouth turns down in corners, pout | 3 to 4 months |
| Surprise | Brows raised, eyes widened, oval-shaped mouth | 3 to 4 months |
| Fear | Brows level but drawn in and up, eyes widened, mouth retracted | 5-7 weeks |
Source: Drawn from work of Carroll Izard as reported by Trotter (1983).
Excerpted From:
Excerpt from Language Development: An Introduction, by J.E. Owens, Jr., 2008 edition, p. 123.
© ______ 2008, Allyn & Bacon, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The reproduction, duplication, or distribution of this material by any means including but not limited to email and blogs is strictly prohibited without the explicit permission of the publisher.
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