Children (N = 160), aged 3 to 4 years, generated stories describing the
causes of six different emotions: happiness, surprise, fear, anger, disgust, and
sadness. The emotion was specified to the child either by a word (such as
scared or disgusted) or by a photograph of a facial expression
said to be a universal, biologically based signal for that emotion. For no emotion
did the face produce significantly better performance than did the word. For fear
and disgust, the word produced significantly better performance than did the face.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bormann-Kischkel, C.
,
Hildebrand-Pascher, S.
, &
Stegbauer, G.
(1990).
The development of emotional concepts: A replication with a German sample
. International Journal of Behavioral Development,
13,
355–372
.
2.
Bowlby, J.
(1982).
Attachment and loss: Retrospect and prospect
. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 52,
664–678
.
3.
Bretherton, I.
, &
Beeghly, M.
(1982).
Talking about internal states: The acquisition of an explicit theory of mind
. Developmental Psychology, 18,
906–921
.
4.
Bullock, M.
, &
Russell, J.A.
(1985).
Further evidence on preschooler’s interpretations of facial
expressions of emotion
. International Journal of Behavioral Development,
8,
15–38
.
5.
Bullock, M.
, &
Russell, J.A.
(1986). Concepts of emotion in developmental
psychology. In
C.E. Izard
&
P.B. Read
(Eds.), Measuring emotions in infants and children (Vol. II).
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
.
6.
Camras, L.A.
(1992). A dynamic systems perspective on expressive
development. In
K. Strongman
(Ed.), International review of studies on emotion (pp.
16–28).
New York: Wiley
.
7.
Camras, L.A.
, &
Allison, K.
(1985).
Children’s understanding of emotional facial expressions and
verbal labels
. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 9,
84–94
.
8.
Camras, L.A.
,
Grow, J.
, &
Ribordy, S.
(1983).
Recognition of emotional expression by abused children
. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 12,
325–328
.
9.
Carroll, J.M.
, &
Russell, J.A.
(1996).
Do facial expressions signal specific emotions? Judging emotion from the
face in context
. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70,
205–218
.
10.
Denham, S.A.
(1998). Emotional development in young children.
New York: Guilford Press
.
11.
Dunn, J.
,
Brown, J.
, &
Beardsall, L.
(1991).
Family talk about feeling states and children’s later
understanding of others’ emotions
. Developmental Psychology, 27,
448–455
.
Fernandez-Dols, J.M.
, &
Ruiz-Belda, M.A.
(1995).
Are smiles a sign of happiness? Gold medal winners at the Olympic games
. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69,
1113–1119
.
14.
Fernandez-Dols, J.M.
, &
Ruiz-Belda, M.A.
(1997). Spontaneous facial behavior during intense
emotional episodes: Artistic truth and optical truth. In
J.A. Russell
&
J.M. Fernandez-Dols
(Eds.), The psychology of facial expression: Studies in emotion and
social interaction (pp. 255–274).
New York: Cambridge University Press
.
15.
Field, T.M.
, & Woodson, R. (1982).
Discrimination and imitation of facial expressions by neonates
. Science, 218,
179–181
.
16.
Fridlund, A.J.
(1994). Human facial expression: An evolutionary view.
San Diego: Academic Press
.
17.
Gross, A.L.
, &
Baliff, B.
(1991).
Children’s understanding of emotion from facial expressions and
situations: A review
. Developmental Review, 11,
368–398
.
18.
Harrigan, J.A.
(1984).
The effect of task order on children’s identification of facial expressions
. Motivation and Emotion, 8,
157–169
.
19.
Harris, P.L.
(1989). Children and emotion: The development of
psychological understanding.
Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell
.
20.
Hosie, J.A.
,
Gray, C.D.
,
Russell, P.A.
,
Scott, C.
, &
Hunter, N.
(1998).
The matching of facial expressions by deaf and hearing children and their
production and comprehension of emotion labels
. Motivation and Emotion, 22,
293–313
.
21.
Kaitz, M.
, &
Meschulach-Sarfaty, O.
(1988).
A reexamination of newborns’ ability to imitate facial expressions
. Developmental Psychology, 24,
3–7
.
22.
Markham, R.
, &
Adams, K.
(1992).
The effect of type of task on children’s identification of facial expressions
. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 16,
21–39
.
23.
Miller, P.
, &
Sperry, L.L.
(1987).
The socialization of anger and aggression
. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 33,
1–33
.
24.
Nelson, C.A.
&
Dolgin, K.G.
(1985).
The generalized discrimination of facial expressions by seven-month-old infants
. Child Development, 56,
1872–1881
.
25.
Plutchik, R.
(1994). The psychology and biology of emotion.
New York: Harper Collins
.
26.
Russell, J.A.
(1990).
The preschooler’s understanding of the causes and consequences of emotion
. Child Development, 61,
1872–1881
.
27.
Russell, J.A.
(1994).
Is there universal recognition of emotion from facial expression? A review
of the cross-cultural studies
. Psychological Bulletin, 155,
102–141
.
28.
Russell, J.A.
(1995).
Facial expressions of emotion: What lies beyond minimal universality?Psychological Bulletin, 118,
379–391
.
29.
Wiggers, M.
, &
van Lieshout, C.F.M.
(1985).
Development of recognition of emotions: Children’s reliance on
situational and facial expressive cues
. Developmental Psychology, 21,
338–349
.
