Reena Greenberg

Mother-stranger face discrimination by the newborn

Newborn infants discriminate their mothers face from the face of a stranger shortly after birth. The neonates (M age=45 hours) showed an initial preference for their mothers face. The mothers face (or face and voice) was then presented to the neonates for repeated trials until the infant reached an habituation criterion. In a subsequent discrimination test the infants looked significantly longer at the strangers face, suggesting that the mothers face was discriminated after very limited experience. Although voice cues were not required for this discrimination, the possibility remains that other cues, such as the mothers odor, may facilitate the discrimination of her face.

A descriptive study of facial expressions during Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessments

The facial expressions of 96 term and preterm neonates were recorded during the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment. The expressions that occurred most frequently during the neurological reflex items were interest, disgust, sadness, and crying. The predominant facial expression during the orienting items was that of interest. Although happy and surprised faces were more common during the orienting than the reflex items, they occurred very infrequently. Some of the reflex items elicited more negative expressions than others and some of the orienting items elicited more frequent expressions than others and some of the orienting items elicited more frequent expressions of interest than others, suggesting that facial expressions might reflect the degree to which the stimuli were experienced as pleasant or unpleasant and more or less interesting. Although the examiners face and voice were more effective than inanimate stimuli in eliciting positive expressions in term neonates, the reverse was true for preterm neonates. Thus facial expressions may provide additional information on the degree to which neonates experience stimulation as pleasant/unpleasant and on individual differences in responsiveness to physical and social stimulation.