This ongoing program of research has led to several discoveries in the domain of early emotional development. First, it made it possible to determine the infant's repertoire of emotion expressions, which are vital to parent-child communication and social development. It also found what emotion expressions we can expect in different situations as the child matures. The research has demonstrated that mothers' emotion experiences and styles of emotion expression significantly influence the infants well-being and performance. Finally, the project has demonstrated that the expressive behaviors of infancy are more than mere responses to a momentary situation or passing event. Children in the first two years of life tend to have characteristic ways of expressing their emotions in response to both happy-playful and more demanding or mildly stressful situations. The research to be undertaken will show how pre- school children control or regulate emotion expressions and what patterns of emotion expression are stable and effective through the first 6-1/2 years of life.
