Pre-Conference Workshop: Facial Action Coding System for Infants and Young Children (Baby FACS)

Harriet Oster and Marco Dondi will conduct an introductory workshop on Oster’s Facial Action Coding System for Infants and Young Children (Baby FACS, 2018 revision) at the 2018 Biennial International Congress on Infant Studies in Philadelphia. Baby FACS is an objective, anatomically based coding system adapted for infants and children from the adult FACS (Ekman, Friesen, & Hager, 2002). Baby FACS is uniquely suited to investigating developmental changes and continuities and subtle individual and cultural differences in facial expression in normative and atypical populations. Dr. Oster will begin with an overview of the theoretical and methodological issues underlying Baby FACS and will present a primer on Baby FACS coding, illustrating the anatomical basis of Baby FACS Facial Action Units (AUs) and modifications of FACS for the facial morphology of full-term and preterm infants and infants with facial anomalies. Dr. Dondi will present strategies for coding facial expressions in very early preterm infants and fetal facial expressions seen in 3- and 4-D ultrasounds. The second part of the workshop will focus on the repertoire of distinctive infant facial expressions and strategies for coding intensities and variants of positive and negative affect expressions occurring in contexts of infant-caregiver interactions and experimental manipulations and facial expressions reflecting hedonic responses to sensory stimulation, cognitive information processing, and emotion regulation. In the final part of the workshop, participants will have an opportunity to discuss their own studies and strategies for coding and data analysis.