The still face: A history of a shared experimental paradigm

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.