Actions can convey information about the affective state of an actor. By the end of the first year, infants show sensitivity to such emotional information in actions. Here, we examined the mechanisms contributing to infants’ developing sensitivity to emotional action kinematics. We hypothesized that this sensitivity might rely on two factors: a stable motor representation of the observed action to be able to detect deviations from how it would typically be performed and experience with emotional expressions. The sensitivity of 12- to 13-month-old infants to happy and angry emotional cues in a manual transport action was examined using facial EMG. Infants’ own movements when performing an object transport task were assessed using optical motion capture. The infants’ caregivers’ emotional expressivity was measured using a questionnaire. Negative emotional expressivity of the primary caregiver was significantly related to infants’ sensitivity to observed angry actions. There was no evidence for such an association with infants’ own motor skill. Overall, our results show that infants’ experience with emotions, measured as caregivers’ emotional expressivity, may aid infants’ discrimination of others’ emotions expressed in action kinematics.

Schroer, L., Cetin, D., Vacaru, S., Addabbo, M., van Schaik, J., Hunnius, S. (2022). Infants’ sensitivity to emotional expressions in actions: The contributions of parental expressivity and motor experience. INFANT BEHAVIOR & DEVELOPMENT, 68(August 2022) [10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101751].

Infants’ sensitivity to emotional expressions in actions: The contributions of parental expressivity and motor experience

Addabbo M.;
2022

Abstract

Actions can convey information about the affective state of an actor. By the end of the first year, infants show sensitivity to such emotional information in actions. Here, we examined the mechanisms contributing to infants’ developing sensitivity to emotional action kinematics. We hypothesized that this sensitivity might rely on two factors: a stable motor representation of the observed action to be able to detect deviations from how it would typically be performed and experience with emotional expressions. The sensitivity of 12- to 13-month-old infants to happy and angry emotional cues in a manual transport action was examined using facial EMG. Infants’ own movements when performing an object transport task were assessed using optical motion capture. The infants’ caregivers’ emotional expressivity was measured using a questionnaire. Negative emotional expressivity of the primary caregiver was significantly related to infants’ sensitivity to observed angry actions. There was no evidence for such an association with infants’ own motor skill. Overall, our results show that infants’ experience with emotions, measured as caregivers’ emotional expressivity, may aid infants’ discrimination of others’ emotions expressed in action kinematics.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Actions; EMG; Emotion expression; Emotion perception; Kinematics; Motion capture;
English
29-lug-2022
2022
68
August 2022
101751
none
Schroer, L., Cetin, D., Vacaru, S., Addabbo, M., van Schaik, J., Hunnius, S. (2022). Infants’ sensitivity to emotional expressions in actions: The contributions of parental expressivity and motor experience. INFANT BEHAVIOR & DEVELOPMENT, 68(August 2022) [10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101751].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/401940
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