The ability of adults with mental retardation to express facial emotions of happiness, sadness, anger, and fear was investigated. Photographs of facial emotional expressions posed by adults classified as mentally retarded were judged by familiar and unfamiliar adults who were not mentally retarded. Happiness and sadness were accurately posed most often. The ability of adults with mental retardation to encode facial emotional expressions was correlated with assessments of interpersonal competence provided by work supervisors. Implications of the findings of this study for nonverbal social | emotional assessment, nonverbal interpersonal skills training, and future research are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Association on Mental Deficiency.1981.Adaptive Behavior Scales.Monterey, CA:Publishers Test Service.
2.
CamrasL. A., GrowJ. G., & RibordyS. C.1983.Recognition of emotional expression by abused children.Journal of Clinical Child Psychology.12:325–328.
3.
ChristensenD., FarinaA., & BoudreauL.1980.Sensitivity to nonverbal cues as a function of social competence.Journal of Nonverbal Behavior.4:146–156.
4.
CicchettiD., & SroufeL. A.1976.The relationship between affective and cognitive development in Down's Syndrome infants.Child Development.47:920–929.
5.
EkmanP., & FriesenW. V.1975.Unmasking the face.Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall.
EmdeR. N., KatzE. L., & ThorpeJ. R.1978.Emotional expression in infancy: II. Early deviations in Down's Syndrome. In LewisM. & RosenblumL. (Eds.), The development of affect (pp. 351–360). New York:Plenum Press.
8.
FeldmanR. S., WhiteJ. B., & LobatoD.1982.Social skills and nonverbal behavior. In FeldmanR. S. (Ed.), Development of nonverbal behavior in children (pp. 259–277). New York:Springer-Verlag.
9.
GoldsteinH.1972.Construction of a social learning curriculum. In MeyenE. F., VirgisonG. A., & WhalenN. J. (Eds.), Strategies for teaching exceptional children: Essays from focus on exceptional children (pp. 94–114). Denver:Love Publishing.
10.
GrayJ. M., FraserW. L., & LeudarI.1983.Recognition of emotion from facial expression in mental handicap.British Journal of Psychiatry.142:566–571.
11.
GreenspanS., & ShoultzB.1981.Why mentally retarded adults lose their jobs: Social competence as a factor in work adjustment.Applied Research in Mental Retardation.2:23–38.
12.
GrossmanJ. J. (Ed.). 1983.Classification in mental retardation - revised.Washington, DC:American Association on Mental Deficiency.
13.
Hanley-MaxwellC., RuschF. R., Chadsey-RuschJ., & RenzagliaA.1986.Factors contributing to job terminations.Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps.11:45–52.
14.
JaegerJ., BorodJ. C., & PeselowE.1986.Facial expression of positive and negative emotions in patients with unipolar depression.Journal of Affective Disorders.11:43–50.
15.
LambertJ. L., & DefaysD.1978.The comprehension of facial expressions in mentally retarded and normal children.Revue Suisse de Psychologie.37:216–224.
16.
MaurerH. & NewbroughJ. R.1987a.Facial expressions of mentally retarded and nonretarded children: I. Recognition by mentally retarded and nonretarded adults.American Journal of Mental Deficiency.91:505–510.
17.
MaurerH. & NewbroughJ. R.1987b.Facial expressions of mentally retarded and nonretarded children: II. Recognition by nonretarded adults with varying experience with mental retardation.American Journal of Mental Deficiency.91:511–515.
18.
SimeonssonRD.1978.Social competence. In WartsJ. (Ed.), Mental retardation and developmental disabilities: An annual review (Vol. 10, pp. 130–171). New York:Brunner Mazel.
19.
SimeonssonR. J., MonsonL. B., & BlacherJ.1984.Social understanding and mental retardation. In BrooksP. H., SperberR., & McCauleyC. (Eds.), Learning and cognition in the mentally retarded (pp. 389–417). Hillsdale, NJ:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
20.
SinghN.1990, May. Facial recognition and production of facial expressions of emotion by people with mental retardation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association on Mental Retardation, Atlanta, GA.
21.
SogonS., & IzardC. E.1985.Ability to recognize emotion in normal and mentally retarded Japanese children.Japanese Psychological Research.27:125–132.
22.
WatsonS. G.1972.Judgments of emotions from facial and contextual cue combinations.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.24:334–342.
23.
WatzlawickP., BavelasJ. B., & JacksonD. D.1967.Pragmatics of human communication: A study of interactional patterns, pathologies, and paradoxes.New York:W. W. Norton.
24.
WheelerJ. J., BatesP., MarshallK. J., & MillerS. R.1988.Teaching appropriate social behaviors to a young man with moderate mental retardation in a supported competitive employment setting.Education and Training in Mental Retardation.23:105–116.
25.
ZiglerE. & BallaD.1982.Motivational and personality factors in the performance of the retarded. In ZiglerE. & BallaD. (Eds.), Mental retardation: The developmental-difference controversy (pp. 9–26). Hillsdale, NJ:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
26.
ZuckermanM., DeFrankR. S., HallJ. A., & RosenthalR.1976.Encoding and decoding of spontaneous and posed facial expressions.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.34:966–977.
27.
ZuckermanM., & PrzewuzmanS. J.1979.Decoding and encoding facial expressions in pre-school-age children.Environmental Psychology and Nonverbal Psychology.3:147–163.
