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252  CHAPTER 7

Consider the role of emotions in action. Emotions prepare people to respond to environmental events or threats to survival. As one example, the detection of potentially threatening stimuli may insti- gate fear and the fight-or-flight response. Fear increases the visual field and speed of eye movements, allowing individuals to spot potentially threatening objects in the periphery (Susskind et al., 2008). Fear also leads to physiological responses that facilitate the ability to escape the threat, such as heavy breathing, the redistribution of blood in prepa- ration for rapid movement, and the organization of attention to pro- mote alertness (Shariff & Tracy, 2011). The emotion of disgust leads to a scrunching of the nose and mouth that constricts these openings ( FIGURE 7.3 ) and makes it less likely that the potentially dangerous substance will be inhaled (Chapman et al., 2009). Shame and embar- rassment lead to body constrictions—think of a child hovering in the presence of a bully—that reduce and hide vulnerable body areas from potential attackers (Shariff & Tracy, 2011). Emotions also communicate meaningful social information. The face, voice, and body signal fear, happiness, anger, sadness, disgust, and surprise, com- municating to others how a person feels and how others should respond. The squeals of laughter by an infant who delights in her father’s tickles elicit further play from him. An infant who is wary of an unfamiliar setting might cling to their mother, who will respond by comforting her baby. Reciprocally, infants can make use of the emotional reactions of others when situations are ambigu- ous—for example by looking to a sibling to gauge how to respond to a dog. If the sibling smiles and approaches the dog, the infant might also reach out to pet, but if the sibling shies away, the infant might do so as well. CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING 7.2 1. What are some regulatory and social functions of emotions? Give an example of each function. Expressing Emotions Emotional expressions, as infants’ first communications, may be considered “the language of the baby” (Emde, 1980). Well before infants can talk, they express their emotions through smiles, raised brows, scrunched faces, tightly closed eyes, open and quivering mouths, and distress vocalizations. At the most general level, infants’ emotions can be grouped as positive (e.g., joy, love) or negative (e.g., anger, fear). Positive emotional states arise when infants’ goals are fulfilled—such as when a baby is pleased by a mother’s voice and hug. Negative emotional states arise when infants’ goals are blocked—such as when a tired infant does not have a caregiver nearby to comfort or put the infant to sleep (Campos et al., 1983; Izard, 1978). Infant Positive Emotions LEARNING OBJECTIVE 7.3  Describe developments in infant smiling across the first year of life. Smiling is the most eagerly awaited emotional expression by parents. Parents often interpret their newborns’ smiles as expressions of joy, even though first smiles do not mean the same thing as the smiles of older infants. Newborn smiles are brief and even occur during sleep (Emde & Harmon, 1972). Between the third and eighth weeks of life, infants increasingly smile to exter- nal stimuli such as high-pitched voices, although they do not yet smile for the purpose of engaging in social interactions (Sroufe, 1996). Between 6 weeks and 3 ✓

© iStock.com/ ladendron FIGURE 7.3  Disgust.  The emotion of disgust leads to a scrunching of the nose and mouth that constricts these openings.

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