Additional Components of the Still-Face Effect: Commentary on Adamson and Frick
Jeffrey F. Cohn
Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh

Adamson and Frick (2003/this issue) provide an informative and often fascinating history of the still-face paradigm and its applications in infancy research. With benefit of their review, one can identify several potentially important components of the still-face paradigm that have been neglected in past research. These are the influence of the still face on parent and infant behavior during the reunion episode and expanded measurement of the still-face effect to include theoretically important components of facial expression and the temporal organization of parent and infant behavior and physiology. In particular, by expanding what is meant by the still-face effect to encompass aspects of the reunion episode, we may discover robust probes into the parent–infant relationship and individual differences in infant attachment and emotion regulation extending across infancy and childhood.