Darwin Muir
Professor Emeritus
Department of Psychology
B.S., Eastern Michigan University, 1964
M.S., Eastern Michigan University, 1967
Ph.D., Dalhousie University, 1973
Research Interests
In our lab we are conducting studies in fetal-infant perception following a dynamic systems theory approach. The current focus is on the development of infant auditory localization response, the evaluation of fetal-infant sensitivity to vibroacoustic stimulation (including tactile stimulation by adults during adult-infant face-to-face interactions) and infant affect and attentional responses to changes in adult vocal and facial expressions of emotions during social interactions. Recent work includes: infant sensitivity to adult contingent stimulation and changes in eye-direction, as well as the use of eye-direction cues by infants and young children to evaluate their theory of mind.
Selected Publications
Flom, R., Lee, K., & Muir, D. (2007). Gaze-Following: Its Development and Significance. New Jersey: Erlbaum.
McCarthy, A., Lee, K., Itakura, S., & Muir, D.W. (in press). Cultural display rules drive eye gaze during thinking. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.
Nadel, J., & Muir, D. (Eds.) (2005). Emotional Development: Current and future research directions. Oxford University Press; Oxford, UK.
Muir, D., Lee, K., Hains, C., & Hains, S. (2005). Infant perception and production of emotions during face-to-face interactions with live and "virtual" adults. In Nadel, J., & Muir, D. (Eds.) Emotional Development: Current and future research directions. Oxford University Press. (pp. 207-234).
Muir, D., & Slater, A. (2004). The scope and methods of developmental psychology. In Alan Slater & Gavin Bremner (Eds). Developmental Psychology: An introduction (41 pages + figures). Oxford: Blackwell.
Smith, L., & Muir, D. (2004). Infant perception of dynamic faces: emotion & eye direction effects. In O. Pascalis & Slater, A. (Eds.). The development of face processing in infancy and early childhood: current perspectives. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Muir, D., & Hains, S. (2004). The U-shaped developmental function for auditory localization. Journal of Cognition and Development, 1, 123-130.
Muir, D.W., & Lee, K. (2003). The still-face effect: methodological issues and new applications. Infancy, 4, 483-491.
Muir, D. (2002). Adult Communications with infants through touch: the forgotten sense. Human Development.
Fearon, I, Hains, S., Muir, D. & Kisilevsky (2002). Development of tactile responses in human preterm and full-term infants from 30 to 40 weeks post-conceptional age. Infancy.