Children's ability to distinguish between enjoyment and non-enjoyment smiles

✍ Scribed by Pierre Gosselin; Mélanie Perron; Reem Maassarani

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 190 KB
• Volume: 19
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1522-7227
• DOI: 10.1002/icd.648

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Children's ability to distinguish between enjoyment and non‐enjoyment smiles was investigated by presenting participants with short video excerpts of smiles. Enjoyment smiles differed from non‐enjoyment smiles by greater symmetry and by appearance changes produced in the eye region by the Cheek Raiser action. The results indicate that 6‐ and 7‐year‐old children have the abilities to detect these differences and are able to interpret them with above chance‐level accuracy. Sensitivity was higher for the symmetry of the smiles than for the appearance changes produced in the eye region and improved in later childhood. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.