The Nature of Mother‐Infant Gaze Patterns during Interaction as a Function of Emotional Expression

In this preliminary study a rating scale and coding scheme were devised to record mothers' and infants' emotional expressions and gaze behavior in the natural home context. Evidence was found that mothers and infants adjusted and modified the timing of their gaze as a function of their partner's emotional expressions; across the 6–8 months mothers' looking time decreased as a function of infants' “warm” and “neutral,” but not “cold” emotions; and infants' looking time decreased from 6 to 8 months as a function of mothers' “neutral” but not “warm” emotions and an asymmetrical pattern was identified in subjects' looking time. A discussion of the possible relationship between emotional expression and gaze behavior is presented.