Open lecture “Approaching intersubjectivity in infancy through behavioural expressions, physiological markers, hormonal parameters and psychosocial factors”

18 11 2025

On Thursday, December 4, at 12:00 PM, in auditorium 3.01 in the building of the Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, will be held an open lecture on the topic:

“Approaching intersubjectivity in infancy through behavioural expressions,
physiological markers, hormonal parameters and psychosocial factors”

Speaker:
Professor Τheano Kokkinaki, University of Crete, Greece with a commentary of Professor Maya Gratier, Paris Nanterre University, France

Theano Kokkinaki is a Professor of Developmental Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Crete. Her research interests focus on the dynamics of spontaneous interactions between young infants and Significant Others across different cultures, as well as (more recently) on the combined effects of various biological (heart rate variability and melatonin) and psychosocial factors on infant development. She has published over 70 articles and book chapters in international and Greek scientific journals and books in the field of infant development and intersubjective communication. She has participated in more than 100 presentations at Greek and international scientific conferences. She serves as a reviewer and member of editorial boards for more than 60 international journals. Throughout her academic and professional career, she has received scholarships from the State Scholarships Foundation, the Vardinogiannis Foundation, the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), and the LEGO Foundation. Currently, her research is funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.).

Maya Gratier is a professor of developmental psychology at Paris Nanterre University. She received her training at the University of Edinburgh, Paris Cité University, and the University of California, Los Angeles, in developmental psychology and cross-cultural clinical psychology. Her research focuses on social interactions, vocal development, and the origins of musical abilities in infants. She is generally interested in interpersonal coordination processes, the world of sound, and intersensory perception. She is the deputy director of the Ethology, Cognition, and Development Laboratory and runs the Master’s program in Early Childhood Development at Paris Nanterre University. She is currently on sabbatical at Ircam in Paris, a research institute focused on music and sound, working on movement to sound correspondences in newborn infants.

About lecture:
Intersubjectivity presupposes the transfer of emotional expressions between interactive partners (e.g. infant-mother) and is based on the temporal, spatial, physiological and psychological coordination that takes place between them. During the life period from conception to early childhood, combined genetic and environmental influences are critical perinatal parameters related to organogenesis, development and disease predisposition while they may be explanatory factors for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Within this context, the purpose of the speech is to highlight the importance of intersubjectivity for human development. During the talk, findings from cross-cultural and contemporary multi-factorial interdisciplinary and longitudinal studies concerning various dimensions of intersubjectivity will be presented. The findings concern: a) the study of behavioral expressions (e.g. emotional facial expressions, infant-directed speech, imitation, vocal expressions) in infants’ free interaction with different Significant Others (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather) taking into account the family composition as well as the cultural context, b) the comparative investigation of physiology parameters (neonatal heart rate variability) during the transitional periods from relaxation to free newborn-parent interaction, and vice versa, between full-term and premature newborns, and c) the investigation of the relationship between psychosocial (postnatal depression, family functioning, social support, maternal perception of intersubjectivity and attachment) and biological/physiological factors (melatonin/heart rate variability) during the first year of life of preterm infants.

The above findings will be discussed in relation to designing early intervention programs to promote infant development and support parental mental health.