Bodily signals, such as heartbeat and respiration, are important for the perception of the emotion of other people by providing an information source that is used to distinguish between self and other. However, there are few findings on the development of the perception of bodily signals in infancy and how such a perception is connected and interacts with the development of the understanding of other people’s emotions. In this longitudinal project we investigate the development of bodily signals over the course of the first 18 months of life and their importance for the early understanding of other people’s emotions.

This project is supported by the Austrian Sciene Fund (FWF) – project number 33486-B.