In this reprt the authors describe a recently developed methodology for assessing emotional expression in infants that they believe has promise for the study of individual differences in the capacity to adaptively "regulate" affective states. The methodology involves exposing the infants to an experimental paradigm designed to elicit a range of emotional behavior. The presence and intensity of each of six emotions) pleasure, interest, fear, anger, sadness, and distress) are rated at consecutive intervals throughout the session. A picture of the fluctuating intensity of each of these emotions during the observation session is thus obtained. One normal infant and four infants from disturbed caretaking backgrounds who showed distinct patterns of emotional response are presented. Brief histories of the children's backgrounds are provided, which lend support to the authors' belief that affective patterning in the child is determined to a large extent by the quality of affective interchanges with primary caretakers.