The function of emotion: An investigation through the expression of happiness and anger in toddlers

There are two main frameworks which supply explanations about the function of emotion the basic emotion and cognitive appraisal paradigms. One hypothesis of the basic emotion paradigm is that each basic emotion is connected to a categorical expression. Cognitive appraisal theorists proclaim that facial expressions reflect varied environmental appraisals therefore, expressions should vary with the situation.This research was designed to test the viability of each theory by eliciting two emotions twice in 28 toddlers and observing whether the expressions of the same emotion were similar. Facial expressions were analyzed using The Facial Action Coding System.Suggestive evidence of basic emotion theory was found both motions showed moderate levels of within-subject stability and a larger of proportion of the variance was attributable to between-subject differences than to within-subject differences. Suggestive evidence supporting cognitive appraisal theory was found when specific muscle activation was compared in anger.