Levels of Meaning for Infant Emotions: A Biosocial View

This essay presents a view about infant emotions that has emerged from our laboratory in recent years. It is entitled “biosocial” for simplicity (our frame of reference obviously being developmental psychology) and for emphasis of a neglected interface between biological and social aspects of emotional development. In appreciation of the high degree of organized complexity in human functioning, I argue for the usefulness of a “levels of meaning” approach for understanding infant emotional development. Although the paper highlights aspects of our own work, a special plea is made for interdisciplinary collaborative research efforts at a critical time in the development of our field. I conclude with some thoughts about the adaptive nature of infant emotions and their signaling functions.