Labels and Children's Perception of Faces

Abstract

KATZ, PHYLLIs A., and SEAVEY, CAROL. Labels and Children's Perception of Faces. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1973, 44, 770-775. The relation between type of label and perception of faces was assessed. 64 secondand sixth-grade Ss were randomly assigned to 4 experimental conditions in which various kinds of labeling training were associated with 4 purple and green smiling and frowning faces. All Ss then judged the similarity of pairs of the faces. Results revealed the predicted effects of labeling only for white children. Labels associated with color cues augmented the perception of color differences, whereas labels based on expression increased differentiation of expression variations, but not of color cues.