Infant Emotions
Source: Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall
Topics: All Developmental Milestones (Ages 0-1), Social and Emotional (Age 0-1)
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 R.E. Owens, Jr., 2008 edition, p. 123.
© 2008, Allyn & Bacon, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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