The DOI matches its Crossref record; 91 of the 91 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The still-face: A history of a shared experimental paradigm
Abstract
When faced by a suddenly unresponsive social partner, young infants typically react by sobering and gazing away. This still‐face reaction has intrigued researchers for several decades. In this article, we present a history of the still‐face paradigm in which we locate early observations of the still‐face effect, describe the formalization of a procedure that reliably produces it, and discuss how this procedure has been used to investigate a broad range of questions about early social and emotional development. In addition, we reflect on the heuristic value of shared experimental paradigms.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Father and infant were observed in the well-validated face-to-face still-face paradigm (FTFSF) (43)”
From Oxytocin administration to parent enhances infant physiological and behavioral readiness for social engagement (2012) · cites this paper as [43]
In the citing paper
“Along with the well-documented behavioral still-face effect (Adamson & Frick, 2003) is evidence for a reliable physiological still-face effect.”
From Mother-infant vagal regulation in the face-to-face still-face paradigm is moderated by maternal sensitivity (2009) · cites this paper as Adamson & Frick, 2003
Citations
Cites
The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception
Bornstein, M. H., & Gibson, J. J. (1980) · The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism · doi:10.2307/429816 · Cited by 22,935
(1969) · Cited by 18,340
(1978) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 12,570
The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception: Classic Edition
Gibson, J. J. (2014) · doi:10.4324/9781315740218 · Cited by 12,132
The Infant's Response to Entrapment between Contradictory Messages in Face-to-Face Interaction
Tronick, E., Als, H., Adamson, L., Wise, S., & Brazelton, T. B. (1978) · Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0002-7138(09)62273-1 · Cited by 1,880
Self-citationMonographs of the Society for Research in Child Development
Ash, M. J., & Torres, J. L. (2008) · Encyclopedia of Special Education · doi:10.1002/9780470373699.speced1386 · Cited by 1,842
Danziger, K. (1990) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511524059 · Cited by 1,773
The effect of the infant on its caregiver
Lewis, M., & Rosenblum, L. A. (1974) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 1,428
Field, T. M., & Fox, N. A. (1985) · Cited by 1,181
Harlow, H. F., & Zimmermann, R. R. (1959) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.130.3373.421 · Cited by 951
Research works printed but not linked: 23
- Field T., 1986, Maternal unavailability effects on very young infants in homecare vs. daycare, Infant Mental Health Journal, 7, 274
- Rochat P., 1999, Early social cognition: Understanding others in the first months of life, 3
- Stoller S., 1982, Emotion and early interactions, 57
- Tronick E. Z., 1982, Emotion and interaction: Normal and high‐risk infants, 83
- Carpenter G. C., 1974, Mother's face and the newborn, New Scientist, 21, 742
- Chance M. R. A., 1962, An interpretation of some agonistic postures: The role of “cut‐off” acts and postures, Symposium of the Zoological Society of London, 8, 71
- Cohn J. F., 1982, Social interchange in infancy: Affect, cognition, and communication, 59
- Frick J. E.(Chair). (2002 April).The still‐face procedure: Historical perspectives current trends and future directions.Poster symposium presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies Toronto Ontario Canada.
- Frick J. E. &Abelkop B. S.(2000 July).Infant attention in the still‐face procedure: Physiological responses and individual differences.Poster presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies Brighton England.
- Harlow H. F., 1959, Affectional responses in infant monkeys, Science, 8, 421
- Kaila E., 1932, Die Reaction des Sauglings auf das menschiliche Gesicht [The reaction of infants to the human face], Annales Universitatis Aboensis, 17, 1
- Kaye K., 1979, Before speech: The beginning of interpersonal communication, 191
- Markov Y. Adamson L. B. &Bakeman R.(2000 July).Infants' communicative strategies during social referencing violations.Poster presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies Brighton England.
- Muir D., 1999, Early social cognition: Understanding others in the first months of life, 155
- Nadel J., 1999, Early social cognition: Understanding others in the first months of life, 189
- Papousek H., 1997, Studies in mother—infant interaction, 63
- Schneider B., 2000, Ethical problems posed by several (too) classical research paradigms in psychology and in developmental psychopathology, Psychiatrie de l'enfant, 43, 5
- Stechler G., 1967, Exceptional infant: Vol. 1. The normal infant, 165
- Stern D. N., 1974, The effect of the infant on its caregiver, 187
- Trevarthen C., 1977, Studies in mother—infant interaction, 227
- Tronick E., 1980, The exceptional infant, 144
- Tronick E., 1979, Before speech: The beginning of interpersonal communication, 349
- Tronick E. Z., 1985, Affect development in infancy, 11
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The many faces of the Still-Face Paradigm: A review and meta-analysis
Mesman, J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans‐Kranenburg, M. J. (2009) · Developmental Review · doi:10.1016/j.dr.2009.02.001 · Cited by 557
FORMAN, D. R., O'HARA, M. W., STUART, S., GORMAN, L. L., LARSEN, K. E., & COY, K. C. (2007) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579407070289 · Cited by 485
Touch attenuates infants' physiological reactivity to stress
Feldman, R., Singer, M., & Zagoory, O. (2010) · Developmental Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00890.x · Cited by 436
Infants' meaning-making and the development of mental health problems.
Tronick, E., & Beeghly, M. (2010) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/a0021631 · Cited by 405
The Development of the Person: Social Understanding, Relationships, Conscience, Self
Thompson, R. A. (2007) · Handbook of Child Psychology · doi:10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0302 · Cited by 326
Metadata
- Authors
- Adamson, L. B., & Frick, J. E.
- Affiliations
- Georgia State University (US)
- University of Georgia (US)
- Corresponding author
- Adamson, Lauren B.
- ORCID
- Adamson, Lauren B.
- Venue
- Infancy
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2003-10
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 451-473
- ISSN
- 1525-0008 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7078
- OpenAlex
- W2109725534
- Semantic Scholar
- fe2f4120d0d0208a29e70c7f59e7c042a9590f05
- Cited by
- 449
- References
- 90
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 77 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 14.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Infancy (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Keywords
- still-face paradigm, infant social development, infant emotional development
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
