ERIC Number: EJ765013
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Jun
Pages: 12
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-2626
EISSN: N/A
Developmental Changes in Infants' Processing of Happy and Angry Facial Expressions: A Neurobehavioral Study
Grossmann, Tobias; Striano, Tricia; Friederici, Angela D.
Brain and Cognition, v64 n1 p30-41 Jun 2007
Event-related brain potentials were measured in 7- and 12-month-old infants to examine the development of processing happy and angry facial expressions. In 7-month-olds a larger negativity to happy faces was observed at frontal, central, temporal and parietal sites (Experiment 1), whereas 12-month-olds showed a larger negativity to angry faces at occipital sites (Experiment 2). These data suggest that processing of these facial expressions undergoes development between 7 and 12 months: while 7-month-olds exhibit heightened sensitivity to happy faces, 12-month-olds resemble adults in their heightened sensitivity to angry faces. In Experiment 3 infants' visual preference was assessed behaviorally, revealing that the differences in ERPs observed at 7 and 12 months do not simply reflect differences in visual preference.
Descriptors: Infants, Nonverbal Communication, Cognitive Processes, Brain Hemisphere Functions, Child Development, Human Body, Developmental Stages, Visual Perception, Measures (Individuals)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A