Spoken word recognition by young children and adults

The nature of the stimulus information that is important for the recognition of auditorily presented words by young (5-year-old) children and adults was studied. In Experiment 1, subjects identified and rated the extent of noise disruption for words in which white noise either was added to or replaced phoneme (fricative and nonfricative) segments in word-initial, -medial or -final position. In Experiment 2, subjects identified words as acoustic-phonetic information accumulated either from their beginnings or ends with silence or envelope-shaped noise replacing the nonpresented parts. The results point to developmental similarities in the derivation of phoneme identities from impoverished sensory input to support the component processes of recognition. However, position-specific information may play a less prominent role in recognition for children than for adults.     

Real-world schemata and scene recognition in adults and children

Recognition memory for previously seen multiobject scenes was examined for different types of contextual arrangements between objects in the scenes. It was found that organized scenes with novel but possible interobject relations were recognized more accurately than either organized scenes with familiar interobject relations or unorganized scenes with impossible interobject relations. This finding was obtained for adults, 8- to 10-year-old children, and 5- to 8-year-old children who indicated concrete-operational ability in Piaget’s conservation-of-liquid quantity task. The results were interpreted in conjunction with a two-stage model of scene processing involving the formation of a schema to represent a scene (Stage 1), and the operation of the schema in governing the further processing of detailed information in the scene (Stage 2). It was concluded that preoperational children can form schemata to represent organized scenes (Stage 1), but it is not until the emergence of concrete operations that these schemata become operational with respect to guiding the further processing of information in the scene (Stage 2).     

Visual scanning during pattern recognition in children and adults

Eye movement and fixation responses of 3- to 6-year-old children and adults were recorded during a pattern recognition task. During familiarization, fixations were more repetitive and less extensive for older subjects. The fixation patterns of older children who were consistently able to solve the recognition problems were like those of the adults. Unsuccessful 4- to 6-year-olds spent more time fixating the modified area of the nonstandard pattern presented in paired comparison with the standard, even though their final decision was false. Thus, preschool children were able to locate relevant visual information even when they did not use this information to solve tasks. The results suggest that visual fixations do not always reflect active attention, and that direct fixations of visual information are clearly not sufficient and may not be necessary for problem solving.     

The own-age face recognition bias in children and adults

Children recognize children's faces more accurately than adult faces, and adults recognize adult faces more accurately than children's faces (e.g., Anastasi & Rhodes, 2005). This is the own-age bias. Research has shown that this bias is at least partially based on experience since trainee teachers show less of an own-age bias than do other adults (Harrison & Hole, 2009). The present research tested the own-age bias in three groups of children (age 4-6, 7-9, 10-12 years) and a group of adults in the recognition of three age groups of faces (age 7-9, 20-22, and 65-90 years). Results showed an own-age bias for 7- to 9-year-old children and adults. Specifically, children could recognize faces more accurately if they were less than two years different from their own age than if they were more than two years older or younger. These results are discussed in terms of short-term experience with faces creating biases, and this rapidly changes with age.     

The own-age face recognition bias in children and adults

Children recognize children's faces more accurately than adult faces, and adults recognize adult faces more accurately than children's faces (e.g., Anastasi & Rhodes, 2005 Anastasi, J. S. and Rhodes, M. G. 2005. An own-age bias in face recognition for children and older adults. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 12: 1043–1047. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This is the own-age bias. Research has shown that this bias is at least partially based on experience since trainee teachers show less of an own-age bias than do other adults (Harrison & Hole, 2009 Harrison, V. and Hole, G. J. 2009. Evidence for a contact-based explanation of the own-age bias in face recognition. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16: 264–269. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The present research tested the own-age bias in three groups of children (age 4–6, 7–9, 10–12 years) and a group of adults in the recognition of three age groups of faces (age 7–9, 20–22, and 65–90 years). Results showed an own-age bias for 7- to 9-year-old children and adults. Specifically, children could recognize faces more accurately if they were less than two years different from their own age than if they were more than two years older or younger. These results are discussed in terms of short-term experience with faces creating biases, and this rapidly changes with age.     

Differences between children and adults in the recognition of enjoyment smiles

The authors investigated the differences between 8-year-olds (n=80) and adults (n=80) in recognition of felt versus faked enjoyment smiles by using a newly developed picture set that is based on the Facial Action Coding System. The authors tested the effect of different facial action units (AUs) on judgments of smile authenticity. Multiple regression showed that children base their judgment on AU intensity of both mouth and eyes, with relatively little distinction between the Duchenne marker (AU6 or "cheek raiser") and a different voluntary muscle that has a similar effect on eye aperture (AU7 or "lid tightener"). Adults discriminate well between AU6 and AU7 and seem to use eye-mouth discrepancy as a major cue of authenticity. Bared-teeth smiles (involving AU25) are particularly salient to both groups. The authors propose and discuss an initial developmental model of the smile recognition process.     

An own-age bias in face recognition for children and older adults

In the present study, we examined whether children and older adults exhibit an own-age face recognition bias. Participants studied photographs of children, younger adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults and were administered a recognition test. Results showed that both children and older adults more accurately recognized own-age faces than other-age faces. These data suggest that individuals may acquire expertise for identifying faces from their own age group and are discussed in terms of Sporer’s (2001) in-group/out-group model of face recognition.     

Neural and behavioral correlates of emotion recognition in children and adults.

Event-related potentials (ERPs), accuracy scores, and reaction times were used to examine the recognition of emotional expressions. Adults and 7-year-old children saw upright and inverted chromatic slides of the facial expressions of happiness, fear, surprise, and anger, and were asked to press a button for either "happy" or "angry" faces. A positive-going waveform (P300) was apparent at parietal scalp (Pz) and at left and right temporal scalp. Although the behavioral data were similar for both children and adults (e.g., both had more difficulty recognizing angry expressions than happy ones, and angry expressions were more difficult to recognize upside-down than were happy faces), the ERPs indicated that children responded differently than adults did to happy and angry expressions. Adults showed greater P300 amplitude to happy faces, while children showed greater P300 amplitude to angry faces. In addition, for adults, but not children, there were greater P300 amplitude responses at right vs. left temporal scalp.     

The gating paradigm: Effects of presentation format on spoken word recognition by children and adults

This study focused on the impact of stimulus presentation format in the gating paradigm with age. Two presentation formats were employed—the standard, successive format and a duration-blocked one, in which gates from word onset were blocked by duration (i.e., gates for the same word were not temporally adjacent). In Experiment 1, the effect of presentation format on adults’ recognition was assessed as a function of response format (written vs. oral). In Experiment 2, the effect of presentation format on kindergarteners’, first graders’, and adults’ recognition was assessed with an oral response format only. Performance was typically poorer for the successive format than for the duration-blocked one. The role of response perseveration and negative feedback in producing this effect is considered, as is the effect of word frequency and cohort size on recognition. Although the successive format yields a conservative picture of recognition, presentation format did not have a markedly different effect across the three age levels studied. Thus, the gating paradigm would seem to be an appropriate one for making developmental comparisons of spoken word recognition.     

The effect of spacing repetitions on the recognition memory of young children and adults

In Experiment 1, preschoolers, first graders, and third graders were presented a list of pictures that included twice-presented items separated by varying numbers of intervening items. Performance on a subsequent recognition test improved as the spacing between repetitions increased, but the effect of spacing did not interact reliably with grade level. In Experiment 2a, we replicated the spaced-repetition effect in young children and found a similar effect in college students. In Experiment 2b, we varied the conditions under which lists were presented to college students and again found a spacing function that was comparable to that of very young children. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that spaced-repetition effects in recognition are produced by fundamental memory mechanisms that are operational at a very early age and which undergo little change with development.     

Recognition of tactile relief by children and adults

This study was designed to compare tactile sensitivity of children and adults on printed target stimuli covering a wide range of elevations and requiring different resolutions. A recognition-relief task using 9 digits at 6 levels of elevation from a surface (0.5, 0.4, 0.3, 0.2, 0.1, and 0.05 mm) was presented to 24 young adults and 24 children. As predicted, relief elevations as low as 0.05 mm were recognized above chance. As predicted, children performed significantly more poorly than the adults on recognition at all elevations, although the difference increased as elevation increased. Adults performed significantly better than children on high-resolution digit 8, but there was no reliable age difference on low-resolution digit 1. Recognition difference between the high- and low-resolution digits decreased nonlinearly as elevation increased, irrespective of age. Overall, the findings support previous research indicating greater tactile sensitivity in adults than in children, but the superiority was moderated by the elevation and resolution requirements of the stimuli.     

Audiovisual integration in noise by children and adults

The aim of this study was to investigate the development of multisensory facilitation in primary school-age children under conditions of auditory noise. Motor reaction times and accuracy were recorded from 8-year-olds, 10-year-olds, and adults during auditory, visual, and audiovisual detection tasks. Auditory signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of 30-, 22-, 12-, and 9-dB across the different age groups were compared. Multisensory facilitation was greater in adults than in children, although performance for all age groups was affected by the presence of background noise. It is posited that changes in multisensory facilitation with increased auditory noise may be due to changes in attention bias.     

Copying strategies for patterns by children and adults

In the present study, eve movements during the copying of a pattern were analyzed to compare visual strategies of adults and children. Subjects had to build an accurate copy of spatial block patterns. Tested variables were the incidence and the duration of ocular dwelling in the pattern area (where the pattern to be copied was located), the work area (where the copy was made), and the source area (where the blocks were that could be used for creating the copy). Furthermore, to unravel employed strategies, sequences of dwelled areas were investigated. Previous studies reported that adults employ repetitive visual scanning strategies to accomplish the task instead of strategies depending upon an internal representation. The present results show that the II children, within the ages of 7 to 12 years, made more eye movements and fixations of longer duration during copy tasks than the 11 adults. The visual strategies of the children were highly comparable to those of adults. Memory was restricted to one block, while color and location seemed to be remembered together.     

Age-related differences in brain electrical activity during extended continuous face recognition in younger children, older children and adults

To examine the development of recognition memory in primary-school children, 36 healthy younger children (8-9 years old) and 36 healthy older children (11-12 years old) participated in an ERP study with an extended continuous face recognition task (Study 1). Each face of a series of 30 faces was shown randomly six times interspersed with distracter faces. The children were required to make old vs. new decisions. Older children responded faster than younger children, but younger children exhibited a steeper decrease in latencies across the five repetitions. Older children exhibited better accuracy for new faces, but there were no age differences in recognition accuracy for repeated faces. For the N2, N400 and late positive complex (LPC), we analyzed the old/new effects (repetition 1 vs. new presentation) and the extended repetition effects (repetitions 1 through 5). Compared to older children, younger children exhibited larger frontocentral N2 and N400 old/new effects. For extended face repetitions, negativity of the N2 and N400 decreased in a linear fashion in both age groups. For the LPC, an ERP component thought to reflect recollection, no significant old/new or extended repetition effects were found. Employing the same face recognition paradigm in 20 adults (Study 2), we found a significant N400 old/new effect at lateral frontal sites and a significant LPC repetition effect at parietal sites, with LPC amplitudes increasing linearly with the number of repetitions. This study clearly demonstrates differential developmental courses for the N400 and LPC pertaining to recognition memory for faces. It is concluded that face recognition in children is mediated by early and probably more automatic than conscious recognition processes. In adults, the LPC extended repetition effect indicates that adult face recognition memory is related to a conscious and graded recollection process rather than to an automatic recognition process.     

Recognition of emotions in music by children and adults

32 children 5 to 6 yr. old, 32 9 to 11 yr. old, and 32 adults linked musical fragments to emotions in a similar manner, older subjects being more accurate. Some emotions were more difficult than others; anger and fear were often confused. Older subjects gave better justifications for their choices.