Children rely on what they hear when detecting emotions

Children determine emotion through hearing rather than seeing, our researchers have found. Children determine emotion through hearing rather than seeing, our researchers have found. First-of-its-kind study In a first-of-its-kind study, our Department of Psychology looked at how children pick up on the emotions of a situation. They found that whilst adults prioritised what they see, young children overwhelmingly prioritised what they could hear, known as 'auditory dominance'. The findings could benefit both education professionals and parents currently managing home learning, by increasing their understanding of how young children pick up on what is going on around them. It could also provide new avenues to understanding emotional recognition in children with developmental challenges such as autism. Age and emotional assessment Volunteers in three age categories (seven and under, eight to 11, and 18+) were shown pictures of humans, with faces blurred, and played human voices, which conveyed happy and fearful and sad and angry emotions.