Nursery World - From the heart

Reading a young child's feelings and responding appropriately to them can be a tricky business for carers. Dr Richard Woolfson offers some helpful advice We are, by nature, communicative - we all have an innate need to communicate our feelings to others. Right from birth, the new baby expresses her emotions through the use of crying and other non-verbal means.

We are, by nature, communicative - we all have an innate need to communicate our feelings to others. Right from birth, the new baby expresses her emotions through the use of crying and other non-verbal means.

Studies by Izard (1980, 1982, 1995) led to the creation of MAX (Maximally Discriminative Facial Movement Codes), a complex, objective system for analysing an infant's facial expression. The psychological investigator takes a snapshot of a baby's face and then looks at it to determine the presence of specific facial movements. For example, Facial Movement 20 is 'raised brow in arched shape', 30 is 'enlarged, roundish appearance of eye', and 50 is 'opened mouth'. The presence of 20, 30 and 50 at the same time indicate that the baby is experiencing surprise.

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