Little Cameron can walk, and life is suddenly very different. At 11
months old he can travel just about anywhere very quickly. The problem
is, he’s often quicker than his mother, so it’s a challenge keeping
Cameron safe while he explores his world. One day he’s after the stereo
controls and next he’s into the kitchen pantry.
Yesterday it was the stereo knobs, today Cameron has discovered the
pretty red tassels dangling from the edge of the tablecloth. He can’t
see what's on top of the table, and doesn’t realize that if he pulls on
one of the tassels a vase of flowers will come tumbling down. Across the
room, his mother looks with fear and surprise as she realizes her son’s
plan. As Cameron begins to reach for a tassel he looks back at his
mother. The look on his mother’s face tells Cameron
what he needs to know. He stops reaching for the tassel and moves away
from the table. His mother, having vaulted across the room, quickly removes
the tablecloth and its enticing tassels.
The answer is on
your face.
Cameron used what researchers call “social referencing” to decide
what to do. In other words, he “read” his mother’s face,
recognized the fearful expression and understood he should not
pull the tassel. Amazingly, Cameron knows what certain facial
expressions and tones of voice mean—from “don’t do that”
to “it’s
okay to play with that.” Research has shown that by 12 months of
age babies use visual information from the faces of their
caregivers to make sense of situations that are new or unclear (Sorce,
Emde, Campos, & Klinnert, 1985).
As adults we do this all the time to obtain feedback from the
world around us, but it’s fascinating to learn how early this
skill develops. In fact, by watching adults’ facial expressions
and listening to their tone of voice, babies as young as 10 months
old can use emotional information to decide what to do (Walden &
Ogan, 1988). For example, your child might check the expression on
your face and the emotion it shows before deciding to pick up a
new toy. One study looked at whether babies would play with new
toys depending on how their mothers reacted to them. The results
were clear: one-year-olds were less likely to play with a new toy
if their mothers reacted negatively to it, and more likely to play
with a toy if their mothers expressed positive emotions about it (Hornik,
Risenhoover, & Gunnar, 1987).
Recognizing visual cues.
One study looked at whether babies would play with new toys depending
on how their mothers reacted to them. The results were clear:
one-year-olds were less likely to play with a new toy if their mothers
reacted negatively to it, and more likely to play with a toy if their
mothers expressed positive emotions about it (Hornik, Risenhoover, &
Gunnar, 1987).
To see if babies would use social referencing to make decisions,
researchers had to create a situation that would be new and unclear to
young children. In one experiment, researchers created a “visual
cliff”—a plexiglass-covered table that had a “deep end” and seemed
unsafe to cross. As they crawled over the table to get a toy, the babies
reached the “deep end” and weren’t sure whether they should keep going.
At this point, the babies looked at their mothers—and the researchers
studied what the babies did (Sorce et al., 1985).
The mothers and their babies were divided into two groups. Mothers in
the first group encouraged their babies to come toward the toy at the
other end. As each child approached the visual cliff, the mother smiled,
created a happy face, and using only her facial expressions, encouraged
her baby to cross the table.
The second group of mothers also placed the toy at the deep end of the
cliff, but as their babies moved closer to the “edge” these mothers
showed a fearful face, again without talking or using their hands to add
to the communication.
When the mothers posed a fearful expression, not one of the 17 babies
ventured across the deep side. But almost all the babies who saw their
mother’s happy face—14 out of 19— crossed to the deep end. These babies
recognized their mother's expression and decided what to do based on
what they “read” in their mother’s face.
Your expressions and
reactions count!
So, what does this mean to you and your baby? It means that your
one-year-old is watching your face and learning from your expressions all
the time. Your baby is developing the important skill of reading faces and
emotions – and you are her first and most important teacher.
Helpful Parenting Tips
Have fun interacting face-to-face with your baby. Let your baby see and learn about a wide range of emotional expressions.
Sometimes our faces may say one thing while our voices or actions say another. Since your baby is “reading” the emotions you express, try to provide clear examples of these emotions.
Your face tells your child a lot about how you feel. Share the things you enjoy with your baby along with communicating what to avoid.
Use positive emotions to introduce new things to your baby—like new people, new pets, and new toys.
Social referencing is something we do every day, whether we are aware
of it or not. It’s an important skill that begins very early in life. You
are teaching your child many important things as you go through the day.
Your baby learns by watching you.
References:
Hornik, R.,
Risenhoover, N., & Gunnar, M. (1987). The effects of maternal
positive, neutral, and negative affective communications on infant
responses to new toys. Child Development, 58, 937-944.
Sorce, J. F.,
Ernde, R. N., Campos,
J., & Klinnert, M. D. (1985). Maternal emotional signaling: Its
effect on the visual cliff behavior of 1-year-olds.
Developmental Psychology, 21(1), 195-200.
Walden, T. A., &
Ogan, T. A. (1988). The development of social referencing.
Child Development, 59(5), 1230-1240.
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to “it’s
okay to play with that.” Research has shown that by 12 months of
age babies use visual information from the faces of their
caregivers to make sense of situations that are new or unclear (Sorce,
Emde, Campos, & Klinnert, 1985).
Have fun interacting face-to-face with your baby. Let your baby see and learn about a wide range of emotional expressions. 
