Identifying out of context smiling in children: Are they really happy? [abstract]

Abstract

We examined children's expressions characteristic of smiles during pleasurable (in context) and distressing (out of context) situations. We hypothesize that smiles during distressing contexts were not accompanied by pleasure. To test this hypothesis, we will evaluate these smiles for positivity, negativity, and intensity. We expect they will be perceived as less positive, more negative, and less intense than those in context.