Children's understanding of emotional facial expressions and verbal labels

Abstract

Preschool, kindergarten, first and second-grade children were told twelve stories describing emotion-inducing events. After each story the subjects were presented either with three emotion labels (e.g., “happy,” “sad,” “surprised”) or with facial expressions of three emotions. Subjects were asked to choose the label or expression appropriate for the story's main character. Data analysis showed that children's accuracy increased with age. Performance was high on both response measures but recognition of labels exceeded that of facial expressions. Some of the six emotions studied (e.g., happiness and sadness) were recognized more easily than others (surprise, fear, and anger), with disgust being correctly identified least often.