Abstract
Tongue showing and observers' willingness to interrupt was investigated in the laboratory with 48 male and 48 female subjects and 5 male and 5 female confederates. Subjects needed to interrupt confederates whose tongues showed while they were concentrating on a task or who concentrated without a tongue show, or who held a neutral facial expression while engaged on a task. Significant latencies to interruption occurred with the tongue-show condition, a result consistent with 1982 work of Dolgin and Sabini. No significant effects for sex were found. In a field study, subjects approached one of two confederates who were selling plants; both confederates were reading but one was tongue-showing as well. Confederates, whether man or woman without a tongue show, were approached significantly more often by prospective buyers. Tongue-showing appears to act as a deterrent to social interaction; its possible role in the social acceptability of Down Syndrome children is discussed.
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