Comprehension
As adults we develop a complex set of emotional expressions and perceptual understanding of our own and other's emotional states. Infants appear to have two innate rudimentary emotional arousal responses to stimuli referred to as approach and avoidance. The infant's emotional life consists of little more than these two arousal states, an attraction to pleasant stimulation therefore eliciting approach and withdrawal or avoidance of unpleasant stimulation.
Given that this is the nature of emotional arousal the new-born arrives equipped with, the approach avoidance response makes perfect evolutionary sense. This is all the new-born needs at this juncture in their lifespan development. It might also suggest that infants are born with an innate understanding of the meaning intended in the emotional facial expressions of others.
Hence if the caregiver adopts a playful posture and conveys a happy facial expression, then the infant will be in an approach arousal state and most likely respond positively by mirroring the expression portrayed. The opposite also applies, however, where parents adopting a despondent posture are likely to initiate an avoidance arousal state in the infant. Under these circumstances the infant will feel uncomfortable and will want the situation to change.
In an avoidance arousal state the infant will exhibit behaviours designed to provoke a change in the parent's behaviour such as crying and pick-me-up gesturing or sucking an object such as a pacifier or the edge of a blanket. A continuation of parental despondency could have serious consequences for the infant's normal socioemotional development. This could cause, alterations to the infant's sleeping patterns and increase levels of irritability, anger and anxiousness.
An infant's avoidance of aversive situations is limited due to their immature motor development, so they resort to simple avoidance tactics such as turning the head, gaze avoidance and crying. These types of behaviours are attempts at modulating their emotional arousal state.
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