Interpretation of Facial Expressions

The early recognition of certain facial and vocal expressions, such as smiling or angry looks and kind or scolding tones, found among infants from the fifth month on, is an important step in understanding the behavior of human beings. We find children showing greater skill along this line as they get older.

More than 70 per cent of the kindergarten children recognized laughter, whereas less than 50 per cent of them recognized fear, anger, or pain. By the age of seven years more than half recognized anger, by eleven, more than half recognized surprise. The course of development may be seen also in the fact that the average number of photographs correctly named was 1.5 at the age of three years, and, nearly four and one-half at the age of eleven. Of course, this test is somewhat artificial because actual facial expressions are mobile or changing rather than fixed or static. Accordingly, we must not conclude that children cannot recognize fear, anger, and pain in a familiar person's behavior until the ages shown in the foregoing study. The addition of vocal expressions is a distinct supplementary aid to the child in identifying the emotional states of a familiar person.

Laughter and Crying of the Pre-School Child

The laughter and crying of children under five years of age have significance in studying their social development. Apparently, 8 more of the two-year-old's laughter takes place when he is unaware of another child's presence and is playing by himself. At a later age, however, the most laughter seems to occur when children are in social contact with other children. Boys seem to laugh most and cry most when with boys. In the latter case, the teasing or amusing nature of the social contact may be a contributing factor.